To Love a Demon
by Tao-Senpai
Summary: Commanded to capture one of the most elite medic ninja within the five great ninja countries. He didn't bargain to end up playing babysitter for a spitfire with an attitude problem. KisamexOC -being revised and updated!-
1. Capture

I was getting too old for this. It was a funny thought seeing as I was only 26 but the battlefield was a place that everyone grew old on at an early age if you didn't die first.

I sighed and propped my knee high black leather boots on the table in front of me. I had been in this hell hole for over a year. I realized this sadly, as I glared at the nasty watery porridge the cooks though was edible. Grabbing a spoon I dumped cinnamon on to it to try to disguise the taste.

I was from Konoha and currently we were in a war with Stone. It was a senseless war over a simple miscommunication, but when tensions ran high... this was what happened.

I had lived for so long because I was a specialist in warfare medicine. Yes, I was a field doctor. Sadly, I was the best Konoha had to offer. Having larger chakra reserves and the technical ability to do quick diagnosis and healing and the smarts to judge exactly what needed to be done...

That was all that qualified me for the job.

I debated on dumping sake into the nasty food but decided against it, I would need to focus today I had a feeling as I fastened a buckle on my right boot. Damn buckle, it had been broken for about a month now and it was irritating me immensely. I sighed and turned maroon eyes to the ceiling of the makeshift mess hall, today the troops were making a dig to head around back of the stone ninja and attack.

I wasn't a great ninja, I was about average. I could get by with my skills but what I was needed for was my mind and chakra reserves. It was a fluke, I thought, seeing as I wasn't skinny in the slightest but I wasn't overweight. I was kind of in the middle; plus I was short so that didn't help. I just reached 5'6" if I was wearing my boots. Sighing, I listened to the ruckus just outside of camp... What had those idiots done now?

It made no difference to me what the hell they did, all I knew was that I was going to be cleaning bodies all day. My job was disgusting, I hated it, and the funny thing was that I hadn't even wanted to be a healer. I had wanted to train with my friends and become a great ninja, like every genin under the sun. Yeah right, that had allowed me to get really far. Now instead I was reduced to being a healer for the worst type of war. Guerilla warfare. I had wanted to train a genin team and go on fun little adventures but instead I was here in the drizzle and muck trying to save people who were too shell shocked to remember their own names. It was pathetic really and it had caused me to harden over the years.

I tied back my long white hair and noticed that there were still rust coloured stains in it from yesterday's patients. Grumbling, I flung it over my shoulder. Damn white hair, sucked up every bit of colour it could if it could stain. I pulled my black coat collar up in preparation to go out into the morning's misty rain. I was interrupted by a chounin running over to where I was currently lounging in the mess hall.

"Kasumi we have a problem!" he said saluting me. I stood slowly, pitching my bowl of neglected breakfast into the trash asndI raised a silver eyebrow to ask. Most people were afraid of my appearance. I was… odd. I was short and curvy but had an attitude and a definite don't piss me off one. My red eyes and dark mocha complexion really didn't help to make me invisible either.

I didn't have my attitude when I began this job. I used to be quite a sweet and caring person that loved everyone and just wanted to help, sadly that part of me had died long ago after being introduced to being a field doctor. My cold and angry attitude had become a learned habit of how to deal with the things I'd seen and done. Being a war medic was one of the hardest jobs there was because no matter what you did you always saw what war led to.

Who was left standing.

It really did sicken me, my job, but because the Hokage had commanded me to stay upon punishment of death and treasion; I stayed. Nothing like a death threat to keep you at work. Honestly, sometimes I wish I'd just get blown up randomly so that I wouldn't have to deal with death and destruction anymore.

"What's the problem?" I asked in a rather bored tone as he shifted from foot to foot.

"Well you see… the base is under attack" he blurted, I blinked. The base was? How odd.

"How did stone ninja get this far into camp?" I asked as he shook his head now sweating profusely.

"They're not stone ninja, it's the Akatsuki!" he whimpered, I snorted. The Akatsuki, really, didn't they have better things to do than to attack base camps for wars that didn't concern them? Better yet… why was this chounin telling me this? I wasn't one of the commanders I just took on whoever was dying and pumped them with chakra until they lived.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked. There was a crash of splintering wood as the side door flew off of its hinges. I crouched in my jounin uniform, taking cover behind a table as a kunai whistled past my ear and buried itself in the chounin's back. The chounin gave a gasp and dropped to the floor in a pool of his own blood. I might have of been a healer but I had little sympathy when it came to dealing with people on a personal level. I turned my attention back at the two new people who had strolled through where the doorway had been.

"Well, well, well. Look what I found" I heard a low voice drawl as two Akatsuki members drew into the building. One had white hair like mine and the other was completely blue and looked faintly like a shark from what I could tell. An explosion rocked the building, causing chunks of plaster and dust to fall from the ceiling. My guess was that there must've been more than two to take down the thousand soldiers that had been milling around camp getting ready for battle. I turned back to them, I had to report back to Konoha if our numbers were decimated this badly. We would need more grunts out here as soon as possible before stone retaliated. I needed to throw them off balance as I stood slowly from my hiding spot.

"You found the mess hall good job, biggest building here, do you want a cookie or something as a prize?" I asked as they froze. Obviously that was not the reaction they had expected. The blue man gave a chuckle, his hand going back for the sword strapped to his back.

"Looks like we have a spunky one" he grinned, showing razor sharp pointed teeth. The white haired nodded nodded and laughed maniacally, sending shivers straight up my spine.

"Pretty girls are always the best to sacrifice" he grinned. I turned around to leave, needing to get out of the building before it came crashing down on my head. " Oi! Hey, where are you going bitch?" a voice called after me. I gave a lazy wave and walked out the back door. I waited for them to pursue me, pulling out one of my daggers. All ninja were relatively the same and if you knew how the basis of the body worked like I did. You could count down to the millisecond of how the body was going to react in a certain situation. I knew they weren't going to let me get away with a response like that to them. Men had their pride after all.

I turned to face my opponents as they burst from the side of the mess hall. The blue one ran forward and I immediately felt the pull of his sword. Chakra drainer. I jumped back just in time to duck a triple bladed scythe. I cart wheeled to my feet as the blue man grinned and ran at me, the white haired man following in his shadow.

"Bring her in close to me Kisame" the white haired man grinned. I watched the blue guy try to circle around. Quickly, I made the hand seals and disappeared from view as I melted into the vapor in the air around me. I didn't have the name Kasumi for nothing. Soon I felt a familiar chakra pull. Dammit, these guys were more skilled than I had planned as I dove out of the way.

I moved just before the blue guy's massive sword cleaved through the mist where I had just been standing. Jumping back and felt something slice my shoulder and the rattle of a chain as the weapon was returned to its owner. I cursed loudly; he had hit me with a scythe.

"Oooo I got her Kisame, please let me sacrifice her, her blood is so sweet!" He crowed. I glanced to look at the white haired man taking note that his skin was now black with a white skeletal pattern on it.

This could not be good. He grinned at me and took his scythe and ran it over his shoulder blade. He screamed in agony and for some odd reason my shoulder felt like it was being ripped open too. I bit down the scream and I fell to my knees clutching my shoulder that I noticed was now bleeding heavily.

Dammit, I had been caught in his jutsu. This was going to be dangerous and virtually impossible to win.

"Don't kill her Hidan. Leader-sama wanted her brought back alive" the large blue man I assumed was named Kisame moved closer to me. The white haired man named Hidan cackled and shifted.

"But Kisame, her blood is so sweet just let me sacrifice her please? You know how I love it when they fucking scream for mercy!" he laughed and I heard the shift of the cloth of his cloak. He grunted as pain shot up my right side. I bit back a scream. White hot pain raced up my side as I felt blood bubble in my throat. I coughed it out onto the ground, it spattering my hand in flecks of dark red. Shit, this guy was incredibly dangerous and Kisame hadn't moved at all. If I could just get him a few inches closer… I slid a hand into my kunai pouch and drew one out as I heard Kisame growl.

"That is enough Hidan" he snapped and I flinched, I could sense Kisame's ocean of chakra it was immense and terrifying. I thought I had large reserves but against him I was like a pond compared to a sea. I felt my body start to give in from the pain. No, Dammit, no not yet!

Kisame took another step closer to me as Hidan scoffed.

"You always were a fucking pussy obeying Leader-sama's order like a fucking little lap dog.

Can't I just kill the little bitch Kisame? It would save us all a fucking load of work" he snapped at Kisame. His response was a lower more feral growl that nearly had me cringing.

I was actually afraid of this Kisame, he didn't seem very nice, even though he was trying to get the other guy to refrain from killing me. I watched his blue sandlas as he came near to me still distracted with yelling at Hidan.

"We have our orders Hidan. Do not think pissing off leader-sama would be a good way to go even if you are immortal" he said gruffly. I blinked, Hidan was immortal? No being was immortal, we all died eventually, that was the cycle of life, that's how it had always been. I felt more pain race up my side as Hidan moved. God Dammit I was going to hurt them when I had the chance!

In one move I swung my kunai and impaled Kisame's foot into the ground. I forced myself to my feet biting off a scream and I turned to run. There was a deafening roar as something hit the side of my head. I heard a crack as pain exploded through my body. I couldn't scream though as I gasped for air. Had he broken my skull? That impact had been really hard as I felt blood drip into my eyes when I opened them. Slowly, I gained awareness of my surroundings enough to notice that the crack had been me slamming into a tree and cracking it in half from the impact force. Kisame was insanely strong I noted in the back of my head. I lay there pushing chakra into my bones to heal them quickly. Healing was more agonizing than actually getting beaten as I felt the tissues reconnect and bones fuse together.

"Good job fuckwad you killed her, cant you control that fucking rage Kisame?" Hidan snapped as I heard them coming closer.

"She stabbed me in the foot with a kunai... But I guess it was a little dramatic. Fuck, I don't think I can walk on this" I heard Kisame's irritated voice drawing close as I struggled to sit up. I was in so much pain, I managed to get my arms up enough to support my chest as I had to stop because of the intense pain in my back. There was something protruding from my shoulder, I knew that much. I reached around slowly to find out what it was- a massive chunk of wood from the tree was impaled in my left shoulder - I felt the tears run down my face from the pain.

That was going to require major healing as I pulled as much strength I had and deftly ripped the wood out of my shoulder. I screamed hearing an echo of Hidan do the same and I collapsed on the ground. Oh god, it hurt so badly, everything hurt as I saw blue toes with purple nail polish enter my vision.

"Fuck Jashin Dammit why isn't that bitch dead?" he roared as I lay on the ground trying my best to heal the worst of the damage to my body. There was no way I could escape from this. Well if I died at least I wouldn't have to go back to working as a field surgeon. I almost laughed at the thought.

"Quiet down Hidan" I heard Kisame command. My arms wobbled dangerously under my own weight. Slowly, the extra pain dissipated and my pain lessened slightly. Hidan must've removed his jutsu so now I only felt my pain not his and mine combined. My chest constricted as I coughed up more blood. Shit. I lay back down on the cold ground and spread my chakra out healing the worst of the damage to my internal organs. I couldn't move and was completely at their mercy. I heard them arguing above me before strong arms lifted me as I lay limp, in too much pain to do anything.

There was not a chance in hell I could escape from these men. I lay in someone's strong arms against a rather broad and well muscles chest as I felt the movement of fast running. No, they weren't going to kill me. They were kidnapping me. My stomach dropped, I wish they had just left me for dead, or better yet, finished me off.

I continued to slowly heal myself, feeling the air rush past my face an whip my hair out behind me. The healing was incredibly painful with now anesthesia. Slowly, I detected splinters littering my back and knew I couldn't heal them until they were pulled out. Then moved on to other issues I found. I was slowly healing the concussion I had received as I was jostled suddenly and my still broken ankle hit a branch.

I screamed in agony before I could reign the pain in. There was a muttered apology from somewhere above me. Gritting my teeth I tried to push down the pain as best I could. Stupid, I knew I had better control than that as I focused on healing once again. I was incredibly lucky for my large reserves of chakra as I pulled on them once again and healed just about every bone in my body. The bruises I could leave as I healed the gashes Hidan had inflicted. I was sore but at the very least I wouldn't die or be extremely fragile as I felt the pull of gravity as we took a sharp right.

I dared to open my eyes and glanced up to see who I was being carried so gently by. Blue was the first colour I distinguished and I tensed. Kisame. This guy was terrifying in my mind, not only his appearance but the general air he gave off was one of great power and almost malice. He kept sharp golden eyes fixed straight ahead. He was holding me against his chest as he ran and I kept as still as possible. I did not want to be dropped at the speed we were traveling at.

"Hey is that bitch still alive?" I heard Hidan grunt. Kisame's golden eyes flicked down to meet my probably seething red ones. I was not a happy camper but then again I wasn't a great ninja or even a specialist in fighting. I was a medic trained in defense and healing, not weaponry and attacks. Stupid Konoha leaving their medic ninja untrained in attack ninjutsu when I was growing up.

"Yes she's fine, what is your name woman?" Kisame asked gruffly. I glared at him. Maybe if I thoroughly pissed him off he'd kill me, it was a shot in the dark but seeing as they hadn't finished me off yet I obviously had something they wanted.

I stayed silent as Kisame looked back down at me with a frustrated glance.

"I asked you a question woman, I suggest you answer me" he said with a growl. I just continued to glare at the underside of his defined chin. The gills were creeping me out a bit as they moved slightly in the damp air but then again he really was an anomaly. I have never seen someone who was half animal of any kind. But then again there were the Aburame and Inuzuka's but that was slightly different from what I understood from the text books.

I heard a deep threatening growl start in Kisame's chest feeling it reverberated through my chest and stomach. What a weird sensation, it was actually quite frightening if I hadn't already steeled myself against anything he might do to me.

"The little bitch is tight lipped isn't she?" Hidan chuckled. I saw him pull ahead slightly on Kisame's right side to look at me. I glared at him just the same. He grinned sadistically and licked in between two of his fingers. Ew, pervert. I gave him a darker glare as his grin grew.

"Hidan that is inappropriate" Kisame snarled as the white haired man snorted a chuckle and fell back.

"Pussy" he muttered, Kisame didn't bother to shoot a glare over his shoulder at the other man but he kept up his fast pace. I tired to look at the foliage as we passed it but all I made out were green and brown blurs of what I assumed were trees. My chakra had been taxed greatly in healing myself. I just simply lay there being rocketed further and further from Konoha and safety.

But then again, I had been asking for death for years maybe this was the gods cruel joke on me for wishing I was dead. I turned my attention to analyzing the man who was carrying me.

I found Kisame odd, I was utterly terrified of the man yet at the same time he was acting like my savior, keeping me out of Hidan's sight and perverted arms it seemed. I didn't trust either of them, I mean they were part of the world's most evil organization.

"Hey sharky, how much further?" Hidan yawned, I noticed we had moved from lush forests to high mountain ranges. Lightning country. We had covered a massive amount of ground as I noticed it was getting very dark very quickly.

"Make camp at the usual cave" Kisame said looking over at his partner. Hidan gave a nod and bounded ahead. Great, I'd be stuck out in a cave all night with these psychos. I wondered if anyone had found a way to report back to Konoha or if everyone but me had been massacred. A sharp whistle cut through the air. Immediately I looked up to see a massive flapping white clay bird.

What the hell?

"Kisame! You and Hidan need a ride, yeah?" came a shout as I watched a gorgeous youth stick their head over the side of the bird. I felt Kisame tense, that was all I had as a warning before we shot vertically into the air. I grabbed the front of Kisame's cloak. I was weightless for a few seconds before Kisame landed deftly on the bird making it swerve dangerously to the right.

"Thanks Deidara" Kisame said. I was too busy looking at the blonde young man. He was gorgeous, I would've thought he were a woman if he hadn't had such an angled jaw and flat chest.

" AH! Take it easy, this thing can break yeah!" he said with a glare as I watched Hidan land on the other side much more lightly than Kisame had.

"Heh, you like out little bitch we picked up? She put up quite a fight, she's feisty too" Hidan licked his lips at me. I glared into his violet eyes, daring him to come closer as I suddenly felt that Kisame was no longer holding me. I fell about six feet before hitting the clay bird with a smack. Pain reverberated through my body from my just healed wounds as I heard the distinct snap of my finger breaking and searing pain shooting up my arm.

"Fuck" I breathed panting as I looked at the obviously broken appendage.

"Kisame! Don't damage the hostage yeah!" Deidara snapped. I ginored them, pushing chakra into my finger and healed it back to its normal state. I hissed at the pain cruling my knees up to me chest. Fuck, these guys were masochists weren't they? I sat there for a few momentswith my eyes closed. All I could hear was the wind whistling past us and the dull flap of wings as the bird flew. It seemed that the other three had fallen silent.

"Hey, woman, can you do that again yeah?" I heard Deidara ask as a curtain of blonde hair fell in front of me as he crouched beside me.

"No, I'm not breaking another finger now piss off!" I said and swung a punch as I clocked him in the side of the head. I heard a crunch of impacted metal as his head flew to the side. There was a laugh from him before the blonde flipped his hair back and adjusted what looked like a scope over his eye. I noticed I had dented one side.

"Hidan was right you are feisty. Don't worry Kisame she didn't damage it I'm not going to hurt her yea" he said and stood. I watched him through a curtain of my disheveled white hair. Hidan was grinning like an idiot as I sat there. Kisame hadn't moved an inch as I looked at the foot where I had stabbed him. It was bleeding pretty badly from running, he really hadn't bandaged it at all. It would get infected at this rate as I shifted and gently touched my hand against the wound. Immediately he was gone and on the other side of me with a kunai at my throat.

"What are you doing woman?" he hissed before my gaze cut up to his with an unimpressed look. If I even took a breath that kunai would go through my jugular but I wasn't about to show a bunch of these terrorists fear.

"Your foot will get infected if you don't close that wound. You could loose your foot and if it gets bad enough your entire leg." I stated bluntly. " I was going to heal it for you seeing as you haven't bothered to do anything about it" I added icily. I noticed the others were watching us cautiously and Kisame's gold eyes watched mine for anything that would prove what I said was wrong. I met his gaze with a serious glare. Grudgingly, he removed the kunai and slid his foot forward. I didn't have a great amount of chakra left but I could at least do this, I still needed to pull the fragments of wood out of my back before they become infected.

I rested the tips of my fingeres against his foot and assessed the damage. Kisame had aggravated the wound and it was now more jagged and damaged that I had originally thought. It was a complete mess, idly I wondered how he could stand on such an ugly wound.

"This will hurt" I cautioned before I pushed the chakra into his foot and rapidly healed the torn tissues, bones and tendons. I heard him give a grunt of pain and glanced up to see him clench his jaw. In five minutes it was done as my vision became dotted with pinpricks of darkness. That had been a stupid idea. I lay down on the bird to try to clam my dancing vision.

"Hey make sure she doesn't fall of yeah!" Deidara yelled as I felt my body being lifted by Kisame's strong arms and draped across the back of the bird. There was a short silence before Deidara spoke up again. "Did she actually heal it completely yea?" he asked as I lay there, their conversation sounded far off but I knew that was just because I was so exhausted from the sheer amount of chakra consumption I had used today. It would take some time before my reserves built up again because I had depleted them so much healing myself. Couldn't people die from using too much chakra? Yes of course they could wow my brain wasn't functioning well as someone moved very gently to sit me up. My body was like a rag doll really, I hated being man handled like a parcel.

"Stop moving me, I'm not furniture" I grit out. There was a deep rumble of a laugh that I assumed was Kisame. I needed sleep desperately but there wasn't a chance I was going to conk out with these lunatics still around me. I felt Kisame shifted me like I was glass. How strange, was Kisame being… nice? An S-class criminal was being nice.

Maybe I was loosing my sanity from my job. I'd finally cracked and was thinking the Akatsuki was being NICE.

"Hey how much further? I'm hungry and I fucking hurt thanks to that bitch" Hidan's callous voice made me twitch. I heard a huff from Deidara.

"You like pain, you're a masochist it turns you on yea" Deidara pointed out. Hidan burst out laughing.

"That may be, but its only good feeling when the other person is screaming like a pussy" he laughed as I shuddered. That guy was creepy, it made me shift uncomfortably. I felt Kisame brush a hand over my arm, it took me a moment to register what he'd done. I blinked.

"Well were back yea" Deidara muttered. Looking down all I saw was a bamboo forest as far as the eye could see. Wow, I had never seen so much bamboo before. The clay bird ducked down into a clearing just outside of the forest. We jumped off of it and it flew away. I had no idea why Deidara didn't just keep it as I heard a loud explosion before all three of them burst out laughing. I saw flames reach for the sky then vanish. I stared at the spot where the flame had shone.

Deidara was a bomber as something tweaked in my memory. I looked at him more closely. He seemed pretty normal but there was something I was remembering as I looked at his stone forehead protector. There was something... about him that I knew, as it clicked. Deidara had been thrown out of stone for being a terrorist. He worked exclusively with exploding clay. I remembered reading the stolen stone documents a chounin had given me on his death bed to pass to the hokage. I realized just how little information anyone had on the Akatsuki. We started moving, following a narrow trail that wound and interconnected with other trails through the mass of bamboo. Kisame's large hand wrapped around my upper arm and tugged me alongside him. I memorized which turns we took as Kisame didn't seem to notice the direction we went moving with a solid grace. It was odd, for someone so large he moved effortlessly and smoothly like big cat or, a shark I thought rather ironically.

"I'm jealous Kisame gets to carry the cute girl yea." Deidara complained behind us as I heard Hidan snort.

"That bitch isn't cute, she has a goddamn mouth on her and power to back her up. Little bitch put a kunai through Kisame's fucking foot while I had her trapped in my jutsu" Hidan spat as we took a sharp left and I saw Deidara looking at me with a rather interested look on his face.

"Well, what is the woman's name yea?" he asked glancing up at me. I watched him with a blank stare. He glanced at Hidan who he threw his arms up into the air.

"I don't know the little cunt wouldn't tell us!" he snapped, a smirk wormed onto my face. Good, I had frustrated that masochist with turrets, maybe he would end up killing me from sheer frustration. Kisame took a sharp right and my head connected rather painfully with a thick stock of bamboo.

The resounding smack made Kisame glance down as I cringed and put a hand to where I had been hit.

"Shit, ow, ow, ow, ow'"I hissed through my teeth as Hidan burst out laughing. I heard Deidara punch him and the resounding indignant cry for the albino man.

"Try to be slightly refined around the hostage, yea" he snapped as Hidan started up a litany of curses I didn't know were invented. Kisame sighed and continued walking ignoring their banter as if completely accustomed to it. A large wooden traditional style Japanese house rose up in front of us. Quickly, I back pedaled and remembered the exact path we came into the compound. I didn't want any nasty surprises if I went the wrong way and I knew the Akatsuki would've placed traps around their home.

"Kisame you're early" the cold and silky voice carried across the still air and actually made goose bumps rise on my skin. I turned to see none other than the Uchiha prodigy standing on the porch. He couldn't be more than 18 as he gave me a glacier like glance, the pinwheels of the sharingan spinning lazily. I knew Itachi, I had trained him in basic healing jutsu for bruises and cuts when he became a chounin at the age of 9 but after that I was removed from Konoha and moved around to various front lines to serve as a surgeon.

"Yes, Deidara gave us a lift" Kisame stated in a polite tone, Itachi gave a slight incline of his head as an affirmative.

"Any survivors?" he asked. I looked at Kisame. Surely someone should've survived?

"Not a one, we got them all yea" Deidara said with an air of pride as I felt cold all over. All dead, nearly a thousand ninja and soldiers, chounin and jounin, grunts and samurai, all dead. I was the only one that survived because they needed a hostage.

"Is that asshole Kakuzu back? That fucker owes me a round of poker!" Hidan said as he marched up the porch and into the kitchen I could see beyond it.

"Always so elegant in the way he speaks eh Kisame, yea?" Deidara teased. I felt the shark man laugh. It felt surreal, like I really wasn't there, it was like how I dealt with patients who came in screaming that demons were attacking them. You merely shut it out.

"Hey is she alright yea?" I saw Deidara's blonde hair and effeminate face lean over mine. I wanted to punch him for being in my personal space but at the moment it required too much effort. I was shifted and watched Kisame put a blue hand to my forehead. He muttered something and lifted me again before heading into the house. I didn't see much of it other than vague almost dreamlike panels of plaster and beamed ceilings with nice light fixtures. I heard a door open and irritated voices talking.

I must've been getting an infection from the splinters, or my body had finally had enough damage done to it and was refusing to do anything and was shutting down. Either way it sucked as I saw someone with an orange mask moved into my line of view. Kisame was also standing there as he gently turned me onto my front. I felt them remove my jacket and vest. I fought against them weakly. Dammit! I hated being like this, I couldn't do anything as Kisame forced a warm liquid down my throat. I had half a mind to spit it out as he held my nose until I drank it. It was horribly bitter as half of it spilt over my face and onto the sheets but the drug took its effect quickly. It was some form of tranquilizer as I felt my limbs grow even heavier before I blacked out completely to the mercy of the Akatsuki.


	2. Personal Hell

I could feel the drugs wearing off as the world came sharply into focus. I could feel the crisp linen of the bed I was lying on, the bandages that wound around my body. The smell of antiseptic, the sound of the bamboo forest clicking and clacking as it swayed in the breeze and ever the sound of feet coming down the hallway. I opened my eyes to see the little room I was in. It was sparsely furnished with a large queen sized bed that I was currently residing in, a desk where an oddly wrapped sword was propped and on it was a wash basin, some bandages and salve. Across from me was a couch and coffee table with a book shelf and a closet beside a door to my left that I assumed was a bathroom. Directly across from the bathroom was a wardrobe and dresser as I noticed various kunai and shuriken were left on its surface.

I could feel a soft breeze as I noticed there was a window above the desk to my right that was open and a breeze was fluttering in. I shifted and was thankful that I didn't hurt as much as I had as my stomach growled at me angrily. Man I was hungry, I could've eaten a horse as I noticed a black and red cloak had been thrown over it.

I sat up and looked at the sparsely furnished room. There was a distinctly male feel and almost scent that seemed to linger on me and the bed as I tired to sit up. I felt my bandages shift and pull as a few scabs were caught. I hissed and immediately healed the little nicks completely as I pushed my chakra throughout my body, it seemed I was quite alright as my stomach growled louder. I needed food.

Gingerly I stepped out of the bed, it was amazingly soft honestly I didn't want to leave it as I stood. I felt a draft as I looked down at myself, I was residing in my underwear as my eye twitched. Quickly I checked in my bra for the chain I had hidden there with my ring. It was there and it was safely hidden, good. I turned to look at the window, those bastards as soon as I was healed I was going to give them all charlie horses in their calves. Jerks.

I needed clothes as I unwrapped the bandages from my body. The new skin was a little sore but it would hold, I just wouldn't be able to do anything vigorous for a few days as I looked in the wardrobe. There were spare cloaks and a reed traveler's hat. I gave up and went through the dresser.

I opened it to find the top drawer was completely weapons. I sighed and closed it, trust a man to put weapons not clothing in a dresser as I opened the next drawer to find, pants, shirts, underwear, under shirts, mesh shirts, leggings and arm warmers all crammed into it as my eye twitched. I pulled out a shirt and held it up. I must've been in Kisame's room because this shirt could easily be a dress as I threw it on with a mesh shirt and a pair of pants that were of course too big as I turned them up six times, at the least I was glad they had draw strings as I pulled them to fit my hips.

Now that I looked like a kindergartener in her father's clothing I headed out into the hallway. I slid open the shoji door and stuck my head out as I thought of something. I was in a house of s-rank criminals and there was a drawer of weapons at my disposal…I grinned and slunk back to the dresser and outfitted myself with weapons. The sword leaning against the table caught my eye but I stayed away from it. I didn't trust personal weapons usually if someone other than the owner touched them bad things happened.

I left the sword where it was and returned to my quest to find the kitchen and maybe an exit. I closed the door silently and slunk down the hallway. Being a ninja had its perks after all of the training. I could hear voices coming from down the hall as I smelt food. Curse my luck they were cooking in the kitchen right now. I felt a presence coming closer to where I had been as I quickly went left instead of right away from the kitchen and the room I had awoken in. as I passed an open door to a courtyard I suppressed my chakra completely.

This house was massive as I peered down yet another hallway. I had memorized the way I had gone, I was weird I had always been able to memorize things quickly. I didn't have a photographic memory or anything close to that I just merely made small mental maps for my mind like treasure maps. I never got lost that way as I felt a flare coming from my right. I ducked down a hall to my left as it connected on the far side with a hallway that lead me back to the hallway where the room I had come out of was. Great, I had walked in a circle as I sighed in defeat.

Maybe they had chakra guards up that directed people certain directions, either that or I was doing a crap ass job at sneaking around this evil lair. I stopped for a second as I thought came to me.

Why did I want to go back to Konoha? There was nothing there for me, My parents had died years ago in the kyuubi attack, I grew up on my own and had a despised job that id continue doing until I died. Plus why would the Akatsuki want me? I mean I was odd yes but I wasn't extremely skilled at anything other than healing people and quick thinking.

'What are you doing?' Itachi's silky voice made me jump as I whirled around to face him. He was carrying a laundry basket of black and navy clothing as he gave me a glacier glare.

'I don't see how that's any of your business' I snapped as he quirked an eyebrow.

'Seeing as this is my home I think it is my business' he said coldly as I matched his glare. We were roughly the same height so a glaring contest was quite easy as I heard heavy footsteps behind me. Crap. No chance of escape.

'Hey the woman's alive!' came Kisame's deep voice as I cringed but held my ground as he came to stand behind me as Itachi merely pushed his way past me with a stoic look before disappearing around a corner. I turned to stare up at the monster of a man as he seemed quite content with the world. He still seemed to ooze authority, power and ferocity yet there was something about Kisame that I trusted. Not like Itachi, that guy was like a silk scarf with a viper hidden in it.

'You hungry?' he asked as I gave him a blunt look. He turned and started back down the hall as I tailed him. I watched Kisame walk a head of me, this guy was built as I watched the muscles flex and shift with every step. I had never been around a person that commanded such absolute power or brought such a feeling of uneasiness as Kisame. His appearance really didn't help especially with the crazy blue hair.

The familiar smell of the kitchen wafted to me as Kisame rounded a corner. I blinked then glared at all of the eyes that stared imploringly at me. This had been a bad idea. Six sets of eyes turned to look at me as I held my ground in the doorway.

'What?!' I snapped as a few of them looked highly amused before going back to what they were doing.

'It looks like you picked up a spitfire Kisame' A woman with blue hair said as she deftly folded slips of paper into elegant little animals. I was never very good at origami, I loved to draw though, the little pieces of paper were too fidgety for my liking.

'Leader will love her' A man wearing a mask and some strange headgear that covered everything except for his eyes sat on the far side of the kitchen at the table reading the newspaper.

'I'm Tobi what's you're name?' A squeaky childish voice popped up as a guy with an orange swirly mask popped up from no where as everyone in the room seemed to become irritated. He stood at least five inches taller than me as I assumed he was grinning but I could only see his right eye through the mask.

'Tobi don't harass my prisoner' Kisame grit out as Tobi immediately walked over to the shark ninja.

'But Kisame found such an interesting prisoner, Tobi only wants to talk with her and ask her how her wounds are healing!' he chirped as Kisame turned back around to look at me from the table with a quizzical look.

'How are your wounds?' he asked as I gave him an irritated look.

'Why did you kidnap me?' I stated as everyone seemed to stop what they were doing to watch our 'discussion' of sorts. Kisame sat there and just stared at me in irritation before standing to loom over me. I fought the urge to run as I glared up at him.

'I asked you a question, first you wont tell me your name then you wont tell us how you are fairing' He growled as I glared up at him. Kisame was intimidating, I was just asking to be killed as I heard a scoff.

'Don't bother Kisame, I stole Konoha's report on her yea' Deidara grinned and tossed a manila folder to the shark man. He caught it still looking irritated as he opened it and flicked through the first few papers.

'Well Kasumi, A fitting name for someone from Fire country' he seemed pleased as he gave me a toothy grin. He read a few more lines before snapping the file shut and tossing it at Deidara. I noticed a slight scowl crease his features as he grabbed my upper arm and started dragging me down the hall.

'Tobi, bring food and bandages' Kisame snapped as I felt panic rise. Was he going to beat me?

'HEY, LET ME GO!' I snapped and fought against his massive hand. I felt like a child almost as he dragged me back to the room and slammed the door behind us. I stood in the room as he glared at me for a few moments as I did with him before he started laughing.

I blinked, what was this guy's problem? As Tobi came into the room and set down a tray with food and a few rolls of bandages on it.

'Is Kasumi going to be alright?' Tobi asked as Kisame nodded and the smaller man scampered from the room not wanting to incur his superiors wrath.

The room fell silent as I moved to sit on the edge of the bed where I had woken up not long ago as Kisame didn't move from his spot by the couch.

'Are you going to say something or stand there like a statue?' I asked gruffly as he fixed predatory eyes on me.

' It says you're manic depressive' he stated as I huffed. Yea that old routine, the hokage had been worried that I was 'deliberately taxing myself' until the point where I would nearly die, I never did though, damn ninjas always found me in time.

'So Konoha thinks' I said in a bored tone as I watched him move across the room to sit on the desk. He studied me for a few moments as I bit down my irritation. Why was I so angry? If I thought about it Kisame was kind of like my savior. He removed me from the place I hated most, spirited me away to begin a new life of sorts. Hell, there was no way in hell I was going back to Konoha. Screw that. I'd take being hunted down by ANBU for being a missing nin any day than going back to being a field surgeon.

'You're not scared of us' he said as I glanced at him as I watched his gills move slightly as a breeze blew in the window.

'Maybe, maybe not' I said playing with the hem of a bed sheet. He really sucked at interrogation as he gave me a toothy grin and moved to grab the tray of food. He deftly tossed me an apple as I caught it before it struck the side of my head and took a large bite.

'Do you want to know why you're here woman?' he asked as I looked up then went back to my apple. Probably wasn't the best to know.

'I'm a hostage for ransom?' I laughed as Kisame chuckled as well. It seemed that that wasn't the real reason I was here. I finished off my apple and looked at the shark ninja. He had been studying me for quite some time as I folded my legs and looked at him with an intrigued glance, I could be charming when I wanted to be, or wanted information. 'Tell me Kisame, why am I here if its not for money. Konoha wouldn't pay to have a lowly field medic returned to them' I said trying to hide the resentment in my voice as I noticed he still caught it by the smirk that covered his features.

'We happen to be in the market for a Medic ninja that specializes in battle wounds. You were the best for the job' he stated as I sat on the bed. Hunh, so they just needed a medic in their group. I could do that. No problem. As I said there wasn't a chance in Hell I was going back to Konoha as I caught the peeled orange Kisame tossed me. I popped a few slices into my mouth as I looked at him.

'So what do you want me to do?' I asked as he froze. This was obviously not the reaction he was expecting as I looked up at his golden eyes. Silence settled over us as he crossed the room and crouched in front of me staring at me like I was a three headed goat or something likewise. 'What?' I snapped as Kisame shook his head and stood moving away from me.

'Nothing, now stay here. I'll be back later woman' he said and left the room. I heard the lock click as I glared at the door. He had locked me in as I noticed the window was still open. But why would I want to go anywhere other than here. Konoha left nothing for me, being on the run alone would be tiring and irritating, plus Kisame had just said that I was of use to them.

I flopped back on the bed as the mattress springs bounced me back up as I bounced for a few seconds before the momentum ran out. The bed really was quite comfy as I shifted back to where I was lying. I could still smell the same musky scent with something that reminded me of rain or mist as I lay watching the curtains flutter in the slight breeze.

I was a prisoner. Yet at the same time it almost felt like I was a guest. These Akatsuki sure were a strange bunch as I heard Deidara laugh and talk ecstatically to someone as they moved past my window.

'She's crazy, that woman has a mouth on her like Hidan! She's strong though, supposedly she survived Hidan's jutsu and Kisame punching her through the tree-' his voice faded as he walked away the sound of bare feet slapping on wood before his presence vanished completely. So I was strong in their opinion, I had to admit Kisame had a wicked right hook and that Hidan was just…. twisted and not in a good way. I rolled onto my side as I hit a bruise and winced. I may have been good at healing but some things had to heal on their own otherwise my body would become utterly dependent on my chakra healing.

As I lay there I realized how badly I wanted a shower as I could feel the grit from the battlefield and how greasy my hair was from sleeping for god knew how long thanks to the drugs. Whoever had bandaged me had done a good job as I got up and snagged another apple and some cheese that had been left on a plate along with some crackers and a bottle of water. The bandages hadn't shifted at all and applied a constant even pressure to help me heal.

At least they fed their prisoners I laughed at the random thought as I slid the bathroom door open. It was pretty bland, a standard bathroom. Cream tiled floor, black sink, shower, tub and toilet. A mirror hung over the sink with a cabinet that held towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies and random toiletries that I assumed were Kisame's as I grabbed a dark blue towel and turned on the shower.

The curtain amused me as I saw colourful little fish with bubbles and green pond weeds. Kisame didn't strike me as the type to like 'cutesy' anything really. I shrugged and undressed. Kisame's massive clothes pooled onto the floor as I gently removed the bandages from my torso and face.

I moved my hair back to inspect my ancient scar. I had received it during my first mission on the battlefield as a medic. Shuriken right to the face. If I hadn't moved when I did I would've lost my eye. Thankfully I was able to heal it but there would always be a massive jagged scar as I traced the thin lines of many others. The newer ones from my recent attack were bright pink but healing nicely. Most of my scars were nearly invisible unless you ran your hand over my face and felt all of the little raised scars.

Many were from crazy patients who still attacked me even when I had tried to save them. I gently traced a scar that cut across my chest. A young man had given me that then I had tried to turn him over to stop the bleeding from where his left arm had been as he struck out with his right and would've killed me if I hadn't knitted the tissue closed before I could bleed out.

Being on a battlefield really did harden a person as I looked into my own eyes. They were maroon, flat maroon with dark black rings underneath them from not having slept well for months. Like dried blood, not a glint or glimmer anywhere hidden within them. My eyes were the eyes of a shinobi, hardened and emotionless as I sighed and turned away from the mirror. Sickening really when I knew that once they had been bright red and shiny like the skin on an apple, ready for anything as I pulled the tie out of my hair. My hair I knew was now stained in patches of pink and red from blood as the room had filled with steam as I sighed and stepped under the hot spray.

I hated my body. Scarred and the proportions were all off. I wasn't ugly per say but I was far from a model as I let the water cascade down my back. I was pudgy from the years of lack of exercise and my legs were too short compaired to my body. It was infuriating really as I just let the hot water relax my muscles.

It was an amazing feeling as I grabbed a red bottle off of a little shelf. It was shampoo as I took a sniff. It smelt like coconuts as I shrugged and took some and lathered it through my hair. It took me at least three washes to get all of the dried blood and stains out of my thick hair before I grabbed a similar red bottle which was lo and behold conditioner but it smelt like pineapples as I blinked. Kisame enjoyed smelling like a Pina Colada? The thought of the massive shark nin wearing a fruit hat made me laugh as I ran the soap through my hair and looked around for body wash. I found a small blue bottle as I sniffed it too. It smelt really good but definitely masculine as I looked at the little bottle. It reminded me distantly of the ocean as I remembered the smell on Kisame's sheets when I had awoken. It was an almost safe feeling as I set the bottle down and washed with the shampoo again and climbed out.

I redressed in Kisame's massive shirt and a pair of his underwear that I had pilfered which were more like shorts anyway as I unlocked the door and stepped out into his room.

It was still blissfully empty as I lay on the bad again and did something I hadn't done in a while. I relaxed and closed my eyes. I distantly heard the rhythmic clacking of the bamboo forest that surrounded the house and the birdsong. It had been so long since I had heard anything other than the sound of fighting, the wounded and the dying.

I let out a long sigh as I lay there feeling lighter than I had in ages as I settled in between consciousness and the realm of dreams. I guess it was what people would call it meditating but really I was just too tired to pay attention and to anxious about what the people around me might do to me at a moments notice.

The Akatsuki may be offering me an escape but they were still highly powerful s-class criminals that were ruthless murderers. I couldn't let my guard down just yet as I just lay in that wonderful peace.

I heard the lock on the door click as the door slid open. I didn't move refusing to remove myself from this wonderful place of peace as I heard the person tiptoe across the room to where I was lying. What was this creeper doing? I caught the scent of earth, smoke and musk as I gently felt someone touch the scar over my eye.

'What are you doing?' I said in a deathly quiet tone.

I grabbed the hand and my eyes flew open as I saw Deidara looking like a scared rabbit before he grinned widely.

'Ah, kasumi, you weren't sleeping. Well uh, they sent me to get you for supper yea' He said now a light shade of pink at his embarrassment as I let his hand go and stood up. I looked at my obvious lack of clothing then to Deidara who was openly staring at me.

'Have some tact and stop gawking' I snapped as the blonde turned a fierce glare toward me.

'As a prisoner you should be more respectful yea' he pressed as I glared at him before pulling my borrowed pants on and tying the drawstring. Obviously they were concerned enough to find me clothing that fit instead left me to swim in Kisame's clothing as Deidara turned on his heel and marched out of the room grabbing my upper arm.

'Come on I'm hungry yea' he said pulling me along. I dug in my heels but I was surprised when Deidara pulled out just how strong he was and dragged me with little resistance down the polished hardwood floor. His hand had found one of my bruises as I quickly healed it as we entered the Kitchen. In all honesty it smelt wonderful as Deidara dumped me into a seat near the middle of the table as he took a seat beside me.

I turned around and looked at the kitchen, it wasn't very big but held all of the necessary items a kitchen should as I noticed the orange masked Tobi was moving around pots and pans at a furious rate.

I heard footsteps as I glanced over to see Hidan and a strange looking man that was divided down the middle by two separate colours. One pitch black the other a moonlike white. It was eerie as both pupil less yellow eyes turned to stare at me as the Venus fly trap that seemed to encircle his head shifted slightly.

'Interesting, Kisame's new prisoner seems to have very strong regenerative abilities. She might be of use to the Akatsuki.' That white half muttered as I watched him move toward the table at the end farthest from me.

'So, leader said we could eat any hindrances besides maybe her regenerative abilities would be passed on to us' the black half hissed as the hair rose on the back of my neck. A cannibal. He was a cannibal I registered as I sat rigidly in my seat. I focused on watching Tobi's fast gloved hands as he moved pans around and stirred something while watching the rice in the rice cooker cook.

'Look the woman's scared! HAH! What a pussy, you're surrounded by big bad shinobi what are you gonna fucking do about it?' he muttered walking over to where I was sitting as he put his face close to mine. He was about two inches from my face as I felt him press his cheek against mine. I fought the wave of revulsion that ran over my skin like a hundred insects as I felt his stubble prick my cheek. 'What are you going to do?' he asked as I felt him run his tongue from my jaw to my eyebrow.

I had had enough, I punched him in the solar plexus without warning as I heard the wind rush out of his lungs as he dropped to one knee.

'b-bitch' he panted as I heard much heavier footsteps as Kisame rounded the corner.

'What happened in here?' he growled as I whipped my head up to look at him. I froze in Terror at the look on Kisame's face, bloodlust, Kisame wanted a good fight. This was the dangerous part of Kisame that made me want to back down and apologize but I wasn't about to do that as Deidara came to my rescue or to Hidan's demise.

'Hidan was taunting Kasumi and she punched him for his aggressions yea' Deidara said as light footsteps entered the room and Itachi appeared. He seemed groggy like he had been sleeping as he took a seat at the second seat to my left.

'Seems like she has a great deal of guts to stand up to one of the Akatsuki, or great stupidity' he said in the same sharp silky tone as the room went silent except for the racket from Tobi's cooking.

'I have nothing to prove to you people' I said sharply as Itachi looked at me with dark obsidian eyes for a minute. He seemed to be looking for something but didn't find it as a smirk surfaced and he turned back to the table.

'Supper is ready!' Tobi announced happily as the heavily masked man with vibrant green eyes entered the room. His gaze caught mine only mildly interested before he too sat down at the table.

'Fuck Kakuzu, cant even help your own partner when he needs fucking help?!' he roared as Kakuzu fixed the other man with a level stare.

'I find no threat from that woman. You really are pathetic' he muttered as Hidan spluttered but was cut off by a glare from Itachi. Kisame came and sat to my immediate left as Tobi put the food on the table. I was used to the army and battle field so going hungry didn't bother me as Kisame actually served me first. I blinked. Kisame had just served the prisoner before himself. When did I become a guest? Let alone who knew that the shark nin had such manners as no one else in the room seemed to bat an eye.

Tobi also surprised me when he served me before himself and set a plate down before me as I imagine him smiling beneath the mask. These were all very strange individuals as I whispered a thank you to them just loud enough for the duo on either side of me to hear as we all ate the meal.

I don't think I had ever tasted something so good as I wolfed down all of the food Tobi had made. It was amazing! Army food was disgusting at the best of times and it had been well over a year since I had had anything this good.

'slow down you'll choke yea' Deidara said as I ignored him and finished my meal in record time. I was so full it was amazing as I saw Kisame take at least three helpings. I was done after one as all of the men except Deidara and Itachi took at least two helpings of food.

'So Kasumi, why did you join the fire country army?' the white half of Zetsu asked rather randomly as I looked up. I knew everyone's eyes were on me. Well I knew the Spanish inquisition was coming I might as well answer them seeing as I wasn't leaving anytime soon.

'I was forced upon threat of death to go work as a field surgeon' I said rather blandly as Tobi cleaner away the dishes with Deidara's help.

'threat of death, eh? You really didn't want to go did you?' Kisame asked as I looked at the shark nin.

'No, but the great hokage said so therefore I had to obey' I said as Itachi gave a cold chuckle. It was freaky but at the same time I was glad it wasn't aimed at me as obsidian eyes met mine.

'You hold just as much hatred as I do for that village don't you?' he said coldly as I met his gaze levelly.

'Maybe even more, I'm never returning to Konoha again' I said pointedly as Itachi returned to being utterly emotionless.

'After reading your file I'm not surprised' the white half of Zetsu said with something close to compassion before the black scoffed.

'she just wants to get away from those idiots, maybe she's suicidal that's why she loves irritating us. I'll gladly finish her off' the black half licked his lips as I fought the urge to run. Zetsu, that man was creepy as a stalkers closet as I noticed Kisame moved to block me slightly from view.

'Either way we have to go discuss a meeting with Leader. Tobi take Kasumi back to my room' Kisame said as Itachi was already up and walking in a different direction as I stood and had my hand grabbed by an enthusiastic Tobi. He swung my hand in his as he half dragged me back the way Deidara had dragged me. I wonder why I was being shoved into Kisame's room, I wasn't his prisoner per say I was merely a captive of the Akatsuki or at least that's what I thought.

Tobi was an oddly cheery person with his high pitched voice as he rambled on and on a head of me about how much I'd like it here even though most of the other members were a bit scary at times. He swung my arm the entire time like we were little kids on an adventure around the playground as all too soon Kisame's familiar room was upon us as Tobi opened the door and gave me a little push into the room before waving and locking the door behind himself.

I sighed, this place was so utterly strange as were the people I laughed to myself and reviewed how dinner had gone. Kisame was quite polite I realized as were the rest of them. They actually had table manners I hadn't seen anyone making crude gestures or eating like pigs leaving food bits all over the table. Despite being criminals they were quite well behaved. I had expected people more like pirates from the old movies where they ate and drank, raped women, didn't bother to shower and were just general pigs.

How wrong I was.

But then again I had been stuck in the military for too long. Men did act like pirates or pigs after being trapped and ordered to fight for their lives. I sighed and sat on the little couch. Kisame I noticed did have a TV which I was thankful for as I turned it on to notice that there was no cable or bunny ears. That idea went out the window as I sat there staring around the very sparsely furnished room. There weren't even posters on the walls of books in the bookshelf just a random assortment of summoning scrolls and unused spare scrolls as I lay on the couch.

It was cold I noticed as I went and shut the window before looking between the couch and the bed. For a moment it was weird, I was thinking about taking the couch and letting Kisame sleep in his bed for showing me some civility that I hadn't had in a long time as I quickly squashed the feeling.

He was in the Akatsuki and I was his prisoner and he would definitely have the advantage over me if I were sleeping especially in his bed. I may have been asking for a beating but I wasn't completely suicidal as I snagged a cloak out of the wardrobe and a pillow from the bed and tucked into the couch. It was actually quite a comfy couch as I sank into the cushions and pulled the cloak over me. It smelt faintly like Kisame's body wash and the metallic tang of blood as I closed my eyes and eased off into sleep.


	3. The Akatsuki

It wasn't long before my routine nightmare popped into existence. I hated this nightmare, it was less of a nightmare and more of a memory from my long forgotten childhood as the scene played out before me like it did almost every night.

Konoha was bathed on red and orange. Flames licked the sky where buildings burnt and civilians screamed running around trying to escape the chaos. I looked to my right to see Kakashi standing fiercely and to my left was Rin who looked terrified. We were only 12 but we had to help Konoha.

The nine tailed fox roared and smashed another building to the ground as we followed our sensei. Konoha's yellow flash as he was yelling over the chaos. I slipped and fell into a warm oozing puddle of blood as Kakashi and Rin helped me up as we chased our sensei.

'STOP! NO!' I heard Kakashi yell as he shoved a wounded shinobi out of the way. We were all exhausted and beaten as we were buffeted by another hot oppressive wave of the kyuubi's chakra. I grit my teeth as I felt the undersides of my arms burning from the chakra wave as we didn't stop.

Sensei was holding a newborn baby in his arms as we fought to try to stop what he was about to do. Kakashi slipped as I caught him and he wrenched himself from my grasp trying to get to his sensei.

'DON'T DO IT!' I screamed about the roar of the kyuubi and the deafening clash of fighting shinobi around me as they attempted to bring down the nine tailed fox.

Sensei didn't even turn around as he stepped into an area with four candles as they burst into flames and the chakra seal spread across the ground from sensei's feet toward the kyuubi.

'NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!' we screamed as Kakashi tried to run and grab our sensei. I held him back as he fought me with all of his will. I felt his teeth break skin and my ribs cracked from a kick to my side as I held Kakashi back from going after Sensei. I watched with wide eyes as sensei glowed and held up the newborn.

He was wailing at the top of his lungs as the kyuubi seemed to reflect the child's confusion for a moment before another wave of condensed chakra rippled through the area. We were knocked onto our backs as I pinned Kakashi. He was screaming and sobbing now as I felt my heart tear in two at his pain as his eyes went wide.

Everything went white, as I remembered that this was the worst part of the nightmare as Kakashi froze in my hold. Slowly I turned to see Sensei but he wasn't standing. He was crumpled on the ground, the newborn still held in his arms wailing but there was no more kyuubi.

I ran over to where sensei lay as I gently touched his shoulder as wide soulless blank eyes stared back into mine.

't-t-take N-n-Naruto. I-I-m sorry Kakashi b-but, just be happy. Tell Kanna I love her Kasumi.' He smiled weakly as I lifted the screaming baby from his arms. He looked exactly like sensei as he calmed a little under my touch. The seal was bright on his tiny stomach as little black scars adorned his cheeks as I looked at my sensei trying not to cry. He was one of the only people to try to take me in after my parents had died on a mission to wave country and now here he was dying on the battle field because it was his duty.

'Don't leave me sensei!' Kakashi cried as Konoha's great yellow flash smiled gently at both of us before his eyes went wide then became soulless as he died with a gust of air.

'NO!' I didn't even recognize my own scream as tears poured down my face.

Naruto screamed and wailed in my arms as Kakashi fell to his knees staring at the body of our great sensei. I had never felt such pain as I had that day as it suddenly started raining. Pouring in gallons from the sky as we stood there. Bodies littered the field as soon medics came to investigate. I couldn't move as I just stared at my sensei's body and Kakashi's buckled form as he cried.

He couldn't leave me, he couldn't. Not sensei, not the greatest man the world had ever known as I fell to my knees. Something broke in me that day. I believed it was my hope of a better future. I couldn't hear Naruto screaming in my arms but I felt the cold of the day.

It was after that day that I had stopped caring about what others thought or wanted. There really hadn't been much for me to continue on for as I just simply sat there. Suddenly Someone had grabbed my shoulder as I looked up into the face of Tsunade.

'hey woman wake up, woman, stop screaming!' Tsunade commanded in a distinctly male voice as my eyes snapped open. I jumped up and pulled a kunai from my shirt as I was easily disarmed and pinned against a wall by a massive and strong arm. I gasped as my heart thundered and my pulse was the only thing I could hear as slowly Kisame's voice filtered into my mind.

'Scared the fucking daylights out of me. Why the hell were you screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night?!' he snapped as I glared at where I expected his face to be. The room was pitch black as I felt him press his arm harder against my chest.

'nightmare' I gritted out as he gave a grunt and released me as I fell about a foot to the floor. My legs crumpled as Kisame caught me before my nose smashed into the floor but he didn't let me go as he simply carried me under one arm across the room.

'what are you doing?!' I snapped as he dumped me back on the couch. I blinked as I heard his bed cover rustle as he went back to bed.

'Go back to sleep if you scream again or wake me up I will resort to more favorable measures for me' he said as I looked at where he must've been lying. I glared at his tone. Maybe my earlier opinion about Kisame had been wrong, he seemed to have the same track of mind that nearly every man did. Sex.

I didn't reply and lay back down. I really was tired as I just lay there. Kisame drifted back to sleep sooner than I expected as I heard his breathing even out into slow and deep breaths. A slight snore came from Kisame's direction as I fought back a grin. The big bad shark nin snores in his sleep.

I lay back and fell back into dreamland. It seemed that whatever deity I had managed to piss off in a past life was still pissed as another round of nightmares descended upon me.

At first all I could smell was the horrid scent of burning flesh and blood as I looked down in front of me. I remembered this place. This was my first war, the first mass carnage I had ever seen and I was only 14.

I saw a shinobi run at another but before the could even meet the ninja from lightning had a pole through his chest before it was ripped out and used to decapitated another ninja.

'Don't just stand there girl help me!' I heard the medic's frustrated cry as I turned to see my mentor Kabuto staring back at me with a frustrated look as the man he was attending thrashed wildly. I tried to help hold him down as he turned toward me and screamed fighting all the harder. I grabbed his arm as for some odd reason I remember Kabuto letting go of the man's left arm.

In a split second the deranged shinobi had managed go acquire and shuriken and hurled it right into my eye. The pain was immense as I screamed slapping my hand over where the shuriken was imbedded as I heard a cold laugh. I turned around to see Kabuto standing beside a man I had hoped I would never see again. Orochimaru. That bastard was plotting something I knew he was as Kabuto laughed at me as I felt hot rivulets of blood sliding between my fingers from where the shuriken was lodged.

'Are you going to fix it yourself Kasumi? Or do I have to come to your rescue once again Kasumi? Kasumi? Kasumi?! KASUMI! KASUMI!' Kabuto's voice changed distinctly into Kisame's very irritated growl as my eyes snapped open. My scar tingled across my right eye as a dull throb started across my face like I had punched myself.

'Are you done screaming woman?' he asked as I gently touched my face. It had seemed so real, like my eye was once again split open as I traced the defined scar along my eye. The scar was a diagonal starting from the tip of my eyebrow across my eye and ended on my right cheek bone.

's-sorry' I managed to get out as I wrapped my arms around my legs. I never wanted to visit that day again. Ever. I heard a deep sigh and the couch sunk as Kisame sat down.

'You were screaming about your eye. Was that dream about that scar on your face?' Kisame asked as I burned my face into my knees. I really did not want to talk about it, but it seemed that I wasn't quite in control of my body as words seemed to tumble out of their own accord.

'I nearly lost my eye when I was 14 and sent to be a field medic. My mentor Kabuto and I were looking after a shell shocked shinobi when all I remember is Kabuto moving and the man screaming before there was a shuriken lodged in my eye.' I said quietly as I fought to keep quiet as I found my scarred eye was watering painfully as I put a hand on it. It was hot like a feverish wound as I pressed my cooler hand against it.

'I-I panicked and pulled out the shuriken and healed as much as I could before I passed out from the exertion and the pain. I've tried hundreds of times to heal this scar and it wont leave. I have a feeling the shuriken was poisoned with a tissue degenerative venom so it was barely healable.' I sighed as for some reason talking to Kisame made me feel better and more relaxed that I had in at least a decade. Kisame didn't say anything or even move as I listened to his steady even breaths before he stood and I heard him shuffle away.

I heard the door open and close as I sighed. He was going to go get the others to dispose of me I knew it. I had proven how weak I was by having bloody nightmares about silly injuries. But it wasn't the injury, it was the persons that it was connected to that made me angry. Kabuto and Orochimaru. Both of them were lying snakes that needed to be crushed by a heavy boot as I heard Kisame's heavy footsteps returning down the hall, but he was alone. The door opened and closed again as I heard him approach the couch, he knew where I was sitting. I hadn't moved as he sat beside me so that our arms were touching. Gently I felt him turn and reach up to gently move my head off of my lap as something shockingly cold pressed against my face.

He had gone and found an ice pack for me. I sat there dumbstruck in the dark as he shifted away from me again.

'You were clawing at your eye when I came to wake you up. It must hurt' he said gruffly as I heard the rustle of fabric. I assumed he looked away from me as a little smile came onto my face. Kisame may have been an S-ranked criminal but he was still a human regardless of his appearance.

'Thanks Kisame' I whispered as he gave a grunt of affirming that I was indeed welcome before I felt two strong arms lift me from the couch. I flailed for a moment as a growl rolled through his chest making my own vibrate oddly as I froze. He set me on his bed as I lay perfectly still. What was he doing? After a moment I felt him climb in beside me and lie with his back facing me but touching my own shoulders as we both lay in silence.

'For most people sleeping beside another body keeps nightmares at bay. If this works and keeps you from screaming like a banshee ever two hours then this is how you will sleep' he grumbled. I didn't say anything as I felt Kisame relax and fall asleep. It was so incredibly weird lying in the same bed as Kisame. Not because he was a man or an s-ranked criminal, no those didn't bother me at all it was the fact that it was just another person in general. I had slept alone for so long now that the concept of having others around me to comfort me or just to keep me company was a foreign feeling. I lay there beside Kisame as he shifted in his sleep and rolled over as that his breath was tickling the hairs on the back of my neck. It was oddly soothing as a wave of drowsiness washed over me.

I sighed and snuggled into the amazingly soft bed and let sleep take over blissfully welcoming the dark dreamless void that pulled me under.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

For the first time in over a decade I woke up slowly on my own. There was no rush, no panic, no hurrying around to save the dying and wounded. I just…was. I lay there half awake, half asleep, blissfully warm and had that floaty feeling as a nice clean but musky scent seemed to wrap itself around me. I really like that smell as I lay there unraveling it slowly. It was definitely a male smell based on the musky undertones as I caught something that reminded me of rain then something that reminded me of the ocean as I felt a breeze tickling the back of my neck.

I didn't fall asleep outside, maybe Kisame had opened the window when he had awoken? It didn't matter as I snuggled deeper into the beautifully soft mattress. Pure heaven. I heard a sigh as something around my hip tightened and shifted.

I froze.

Kisame was still asleep beside me as I immediately relaxed and feinted sleep as he stirred. This could be quite awkward as I felt his grip tighten before suddenly pull away completely. I felt Kisame get off of the bed and go into the bathroom as I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It must've been late morning as I heard people shifting around outside of the room as I heard the shower running in the bathroom. I sat up and ran a hand through my disheveled hair. I really needed a few items of my own like a brush, toothbrush, clothes, female items. I laughed at the thought of trying to explain that to the male Akatsuki members.

I heard the shower turn off as the door opened and Kisame walked out. I fought down the urge to blush as he was toweling off his hair wearing only a pair of pants. Kisame was definitely physically fit as I watched his muscles move as he walked over to the dresser and grabbed a mesh shirt along with a regular t-shirt.

'Morning' I said as I whipped around to look at me. His skin took an odd purple tinge as he quickly threw on the shirts.

'morning' he said gruffly as I sat there clad in a shirt and his boxers. Silence settled over the room as I recalled his disappearance for a meeting with leader last night. I assumed it was about me and what they were going to do with me.

'So how was the meeting last night?' I asked as Kisame pulled out one of his cloaks and put it on as he threw one to me.

'We have a mission but first we're going to town to get you clothing' he said as the door to the room slid open to reveal Tobi holding a pair of folded clothing.

'Morning!' he chirped and bounced into the room coming to stand in front of me as he dumped the clothing into my lap. 'Tobi found Kasumi some clothing that will fit her because Kisame's is too big for Kasumi. Tobi hopes Kasumi likes the clothes' He said cheerily as I felt the clothing. It was the same Akatsuki uniform it seemed everyone had but these were in my size instead of Kisame's.

'Thank you Tobi' I smiled as I imagined him smiling too.

'Tobi is a good boy!' he said cheerily before walking over to Kisame. 'Itachi said that to meet this afternoon to leave for the mission' he said as Kisame nodded and Tobi gave me a cheery wave before disappearing. He was a mystery to me. How anyone could be so happy as an s-ranked criminal was beyond me. Kisame was watching me as I walked into the bathroom to change. I changed quickly as I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I looked horrid, I honestly looked like I should've been dead or very close to it with the massive black rings under my eyes and my lank hair. I sighed and washed my face noticing how little the clothes Tobi had given me actually covered. My entire mid drift was visible thought the mesh of the shirt and the pants were merely Capri pants as I left the bathroom.

Kisame stood off to once side as Deidara stood next to him grinning.

'Hey! Guess what we get to go shopping yea!' He chirped and walked over to grip me into a strong hug. Deidara was certainly affectionate as he ruffled my hair. 'you must be excited after being trapped in this room with our resident monster' he teased as Kisame gave him a glare.

'If you want to keep your tongues I suggest you shut up' he said venomously as Deidara rolled his eyes. Deidara's hug was rather friendly and was more like an older siblings than anything else as he released me and grabbed my hand. He tugged me over to where Kisame stood as I felt something distinctly lick the palm of my hand. Immediately I let go and grabbed Deidara's hand before he could snatch it away from me.

I caught sight of one of the oddest medical wonders I had ever encountered. Deidara had mouths, complete mouths with lips and everything on his hands. I gently traced one of the light pink lips before Deidara snatched his hand back.

'eh, its pretty disgusting isn't it yea?' he said barely coving the hurt in his voice as I looked up at him. There must've been an odd look on my face as both of them seemed oddly curious as I gave a small smile.

'no, it's really cool actually. Strange bloodline limit. I'll need to know how you use them' I said as both Deidara and Kisame stood there dumbstruck. Had I said something inappropriate as I was tackle hugged suddenly by the blonde effeminate man.

'AWW!!! YOU'RE JUST THE MOST ADORABLE PERSON EVER YEA!' Deidara shouted as I was gripped tightly forcing the air out of my lungs before he pulled back and grabbed my arm again. 'you know what, I'll take you out for lunch too! Its been so long since I took a pretty girl out to lunch' he said as I gave a rough laugh as we passed Kisame. Deidara looked over his shoulder at me.

'I'm not a pretty girl Deidara, just someone waiting to die' I said as Deidara looked incredibly sad for a moment before he looked irritated.

'Then we'll have to fix that. What is you favorite colour yea?' he asked as he was now pulling me down the maze of odd halls. I could hear Kisame's heavier footsteps behind us as I sighed.

'I don't have one' I said as Deidara gave me an irritated glance.

'You are the most unfeminine girl I've ever been around yea' he said as I laughed.

'The military doesn't want girly Deidara. Just functional' I said quietly as he shoved open a door and we were standing outside in a very nice courtyard. There was another clay bird as Deidara dragged me onto it. Kisame didn't follow was we took off and I watched his blue visage shrink before he was lost below me in the dense cover of the bamboo forest.

It was nice feeling the wind on my skin as Deidara let go of my hand. I noticed he had moved his blonde hair and was searching for something with an oddly shaped scope that covered his entire left eye.

'seems like the village is clear today yea' he mumbled as I saw the vague outline of a town coming closer before Deidara brought us back down to the ground. We climbed off the bird before it took off and vanished from view. Deidara took my hand again as I noticed he wasn't wearing his usual cloak just clothing similar to mine with a black hoodie pulled over the shirt. It was much cooler than I had expected in lightning as we hurried along a forest path. The dampness seemed to cling to everything as moss and lichens grew on every surface. It wasn't long before we emerged from the trees on a rather large village. There was a large gate as we approached and I watched as the guards waved at Deidara. The young man put on a large smile as I did the same and we walked through completely at ease.

'Good morning Gin!' I saw a man say as Deidara waved at him. I gave a shy smile as the man grinned and tipped his hat at me. Deidara wrapped his hand over mine and dragged me into town smiling all the while. A few girls giggled when he passed as he gave them a wave. Looks like Deidara was popular with the ladies as he looked over at me with his sky blue eyes.

'So how old are you anyway Kasumi, 20-21 yea?' he asked as I smiled a little, Deidara seemed to just be a person that when he wanted to could make you smile but yet at the same instant make you feel terrified if he chose to. I knew that I was walking on eggshells around all of them, they could kill me at a moments notice and make it look like an accident. But what was freaky was that Deidara was the best actor I had ever seen. One minute he made you believe he was happy and carefree, the next he was the criminal the Akatsuki boasted to have as right now he looked just like a happy young man out with his best friend. I looked away at a small stand of flowers.

'I'm 26, I'll be 27 this fall' I said quietly as Deidara stopped suddenly and I nearly ran into him. I looked up into amazed blue eyes as he laughed.

'Wow, I thought you were much younger than that yea' he was blushing slightly I noticed as he picked up his pace again. 'I had a bet with Kisame he said you were probably around 24 and I said 20 yea. Tobi said you were 26 and we didn't believe him yea' Deidara laughed as I felt myself smiling along with his good humour.

'I thought I looked much older than I was' I said as Deidara looked back at me and smiled once again as I noticed he was taking me to an actual women's clothing store.

'No you don't yea. Its probably because you're so short yea, you look younger and more adorable yea' He grinned and dragged me into the store as I saw pink and frills. This was going to end disastrously as a rather flamboyant man came over to where we were standing.

'Gin! Good afternoon! Can I help you and your new friend with anything?' he asked as Deidara gave the most award winning smile I had ever seen. Deidara really was a handsome man and he used it to his full ability as I noticed the store clerk looked a little infatuated with the missing nin.

'Yes, Simon, I'm actually in town to get my cousin here some new clothing yea. Poor girl just moved up here from Konoha, you know the last war they had yea. Terrible, terrible destruction and my aunt thought it would be safer here with me yea' He lied through his teeth as now I knew why Deidara was such an excellent information gatherer. He was the ultimate actor as Simon clapped his hands together and looked at me with a happy grin.

'Wonderful!' he said as Deidara coughed slightly.

'Sadly Simon we will be traveling so her clothing needs to be a little more functional yea. And a little inconspicuous because her visa isn't exactly legal yet yea' Deidara whispered as Simon nodded and went into the backroom leaving me standing beside one of the best spies I had ever seen as he turned to me with that same award winning smile. 'Piece of cake yea?' he said as I nodded and moved away from a rather vibrant pink piece of lace.

'Why did you bring me here if we were to get practical clothing?' I asked as Simon came back and dumped a heap of black and white cloth on the table. Deidara just smiled and dragged me over to the counter as Simon came around and proceeded to wrap a measuring tape around my chest, waist, hips, the inside of my leg the width of my shoulders, my neck, the length of my arms and the length of me overall. It was rather awkward as he sighed.

'Hm, try these on.' He said handing me the bundle of clothing. He didn't seem impressed as he shoved me into a booth to change. I hated shopping I really did as I put the clothing on. Firstly I noticed it was pretty much the exact thing I was wearing except in black and I touched the white fabric. It was a tunic as I pulled it over my head. It fit snugly as I looked at myself. It was pretty basic outfit as I noticed there was a hood which I pulled up. It hid my face pretty well as I noticed there were three slits. One down my but and two over my legs. Good for fighting. Maybe Deidara knew where to take my after all as I stepped out and the white cloth immediately faded to black. I blinked as the clerk smiled.

'Uh what?' I said twirling around to try to look at the clothing as Deidara caught my arm. He held me still as he smiled at Simon.

'Perfect as always Simon yea. Thank you yea' He said and took my other clothing under one arm and moved me from the shop. I still looked at the fabric. What was this fabric? It was still black as night as Deidara took my hand once again. I could feel the lips on his hands pressing gently again my palm. It was the oddest sensation as a cheery little restaurant greeted us. Deidara smiled and pulled me inside before seating us at a little booth in the back.

'So what is this fabric?' I asked as Deidara gave a wicked grin.

'Chakra absorbing fabric yea' He said simply as I just stared at him. Chakra absorbing. Right. I had heard of weapons doing such but clothing? How odd. He just sat across from me smiling as a pretty waitress came over in a rather short skirt. I was glad that my Capris fit me now and the tunic came to mid thigh as she giggled and bent over showing Deidara a rather impressive amount of cleavage for such a small girl.

'Gin, it's been so long since you've been in has work been hard?' she asked acting more like a prostitute than a waitress as I shot her an icy glare. She immediately straightened up as Deidara laughed.

'Yea, work has kept me busy yea. Hey, meet my cousin Kisa, she's moving here from fire country yea' he said smiling as she gave me a friendly grin.

'well then can I take your orders. Deidara ordered for us. Honestly I didn't care, I wasn't eating military food, everything would taste magnificent as Deidara looked at me from across the table. He was just watching me as I stared back at him.

'So, 26…Sorry but you're too old for me Kisa yea' he teased as I felt the urge to punch the young man as he laughed and ran a hand through his hair. 'You should try Kisame, he's only 29 besides I think you two hit it off last night with all that screaming yea' he said raising an eyebrow as I leant back in my chair. Deidara was a troublemaker. I could tell. He was just poking me to see if he could get a rise out of me. I had been around men much longer than he realized as I feinted shock.

'Oh, you heard that. Sorry but Kisame's just so… muscular and ….powerful. he can really make a woman scream for more' I said as Deidara looked like he was going to die as he went bright red and actually looked a little embarrassed as I laughed. 'Just kidding, I was having nightmares last night and Kisame said that if I didn't shut up and sleep beside him to keep from screaming and waking him up in the middle of the night he'd kill me.' I said. Sure I was exaggerating but I'm more than sure that if I had screamed one more time last night I would've been dead in a ditch somewhere this morning.

'Ah, Kisame was never one for pussy footing around yea' Deidara leant back in his chair balancing it on two legs. I picked listlessly as my paper napkin as I looked up at the blonde man. He was still watching me with a smirk as I gave him a flash of a smile.

'I think you and Tobi are the only people who really like me in the…family' I said lamely as Diedara grinned at me cover up. 'Hidan just wants to have sex with me, Zetsu I don't know, Itachi seems to hate me because I'm from Konoha, and to Kisame I'm a prisoner that wakes him up screaming like a lunatic in the middle of the night.' I sighed and plunked my head on the table as I felt Deidara's hand gently rest on my shoulder.

'yea, well our family is a bunch of weidos yea? Don't let it get you down besides I think Kisame likes you more than he leads on yea' Deidara said as I gave a dry laugh. I was talking to an Akatsuki member, to an Akatsuki member who could rip me to shreds with no problems at a moments notice and he was comforting me. What was wrong with this picture?

'yes, I guess so. But Gin what am I doing here?' I asked I had my eyes closed as my forehead pressed against the cool surface of the table as I Deidara pull back and sigh through his teeth making a whistle like noise.

'Well, you're here to be our medic yea. You're going to be family as soon as you get the ring, yea. That's your next adventure with Kisame and Itachi to Sound to pick up your ring yea' Deidara said as I blinked. A ring? I had to get a ring? But I already had a ring as I felt the hidden chain still looped in my bra. Was it a special ring that only the Akatsuki had?

I looked up as Deidara flashed me his green ring on his right index finger before hiding his hands from view as our waitress came back. She set two plates down with delicious smelling soup and sandwiches. Deidara gave me a nod as I thanked the girl and tore into the meal. I was still getting used to real food again. I was going to get fat, well, fatter if I didn't start training once again. I heard the front door open as I glanced over to see a massive man shuffle in. Deidara waved at him as he came over and sat at our table.

He was a frightening man hidden behind large black baggy clothing and a black mask as he sat down and I heard the chair groan under his weight.

'I see you're back Sasori' Deidara mumbled into his lunch as I shifted down the table to make some room for him. He glanced at me then back at Deidara.

'Leader sent me to get you, you're taking too long and here I find you eating lunch with… a hostage' he said gruffly as Deidara gave him a dark look and finished the sandwich dusting the crumbs from his fingers. I was pretty sure I saw the tongues try to catch a few crumbs from his fingers.

'Kisa's family and is going to sound tonight to get her ring back.' Deidara said with steel as the larger man gave a gruff laugh that sounded more like chafing metal on metal than a laugh as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I had finished long before Deidara and stood up as he left some money on the table. Exact change I noticed as we all headed out into the bright midday light.


	4. dont defy Leader

We met up with Kisame and Itachi a few minutes from town as Kisame pitched an Akatsuki cloak at me. I quickly put it on as Deidara burst into laughter. I sighed. The cloak swamped me and came to just above my ankles not my knees, the collar covered just about all of my face and the sleeves trailed fast my finger tips by about an inch.

'I think we'll have to tailor her cloaks' Sasori said blandly as I gave him a glare. Deidara was still laughing as he hugged me.

'Oh, you're just too adorable yea!!!' He squealed as I looked at the others for help or at least for someone to punch this guy. Kisame grinned but didn't move and Itachi kept the same stoic look on his face as Sasori just watched calmly.

'Come on, you're going to crush her Deidara and that's leader's job or Orochimaru when she tries to get his ring' Kisame laughed as I suddenly felt ill. That's what this mission was about was to get Orochimaru's ring.

The ring on the chain went icily cold against my skin.

'Leader said we have to have a meeting with him first' Itachi said as I flinched at his silky voice. Itachi frightened me, he was truly a viper in a basket of silk scarves as Kisame nodded.

'Come on woman, if you slow us down I'll have to carry you again' he said as I nodded and we left Deidara and Sasori in the secluded clearing as Itachi led the way leaping from tree to tree.

These guys were fast as I struggled to keep up. I hated being such a useless warrior as Itachi and Kisame pulled ahead of me by at least a hundred meters. I sighed and pushed myself to keep up. Kisame glanced back every once in a while to check that I was keeping up. Itachi didn't bother as I noticed Kisame slowed his speed a little to fall back with me.

'you're not moving your chakra effectively' Kisame said as I shot him an irritated look.

'Of course I don't I'm not a warrior I'm a medic you idiot' I snapped as Kisame gave his low chuckle.

'Right, even then you need to know how to fight within Akatsuki. A dead medic is of no use to us. Now move your chakra to just where your foot touches the branch. For you, that's the balls of your feet and give a solid push' he instructed as I did so and shot forward with less energy than I had been previously using. Kisame caught up easily and gave me one of his toothy grins.

'Thanks' I smiled as he nodded and we easily caught up with Itachi.

'I assume you have no training with weapons either' Kisame laughed as I shook my head.

'Just shuriken and Kunai, nothing fancy' I said as Itachi made an irritated noise. I guess he didn't like my voice as I fell silent and dropped a few feet back.

'Leader will not be impressed.' Itachi said as Kisame gave a nod of agreement. I sighed, this really wasn't boding well for me. Why had they picked such a weak ninja like me to join their ranks? Kisame looked back at me with shocking golden eyes before returning to say something to Itachi that I couldn't hear.

I was wary of this duo. Kisame could crush me and Itachi had murdered his entire clan without resistance. All if could do was heal wounds as I thought for a moment. Healing jutsu were a gift and a curse in a sense. I could kill myself healing but I could also use healing chakra to do devastating things within the human body. We were forbidden from using our healing jutsu to kill. It was extremely painful and if we didn't know exactly what we were doing the damage we could cause ourselves was immense.

'Do you have any type of effective attack jutsu?' Itachi asked in his silky voice as obsidian eyes caught mine.

'A few but… they're very painful to the enemy' I said as Kisame laughed.

'They must be good jutsu then' He grinned as I fought the shudder than ran down my spine. Kisame obviously loved carnage as in an instant that bloodlust was smothered and normal Kisame seemed to surface. I blinked. Did I just imagine that?

'What do they do exactly' Itachi's voice didn't hold a question it was a demand for me to tell him.

'I put a bit of my healing chakra into their bodies but instead of healing it destroys. I can block arteries, create internal bleeding, crush vital organs. Just about anything' I shuddered at the thought as Kisame and Itachi looked at me. Itachi seemed… pleased and Kisame seemed interested.

'I'll have to see you in action some time' Kisame laughed as I gave a small smile. I hated fighting really. If I could be a monk I would be but I wasn't disciplined or dedicated enough for that, instead I was now running around with a renegade bunch of shinobi. Itachi slowed the pace as we dropped to the ground and they both donned straw hats as Kisame slapped one on my own head. The bells jingled as they swung from a little string as I notice how much these outfits covered, I was just about unrecognizable other than the fact that I had breasts and the other two definitely did not.

We walked in silence as Kisame of all people struck up a conversation.

'So how's Konoha doing?' he asked as I shrugged. Itachi and I were probably the only two people in the world that hated Konoha for what they did to us. Orochimaru didn't count because he's a psycho.

'Hopefully its burning' I said as Kisame burst into loud gaffs of laughter as I thought I saw Itachi smirk. 'I never want to go back there, I would be returning to certain death and idiocy anyway' I said quietly as Itachi made an 'hn' noise as if in agreement. Then again, he had killed his entire clan randomly.

'Well at least we know you have no loyalties. The start of an Akatsuki member in the making' Kisame laughed as I smiled. Kisame was trying to make me feel welcome, it was nice as I notice him shift closer so that our shoulders were nearly touching.

'well, no loyalties to Konoha' I said quietly as Kisame and Itachi both nodded. Kisame went on to talk about weapons and what ones would be good for me as I fell into an easy conversation with the duo. Kisame really was a nice guy. Cocky, and arrogant but I believed somewhere deep down was just a regular guy. Not a completely psycho mass murderer as I looked at Itachi. Itachi was a whole other matter. I didn't trust him in the slightest with his stoic feminine face and silky tones. He was much more dangerous than Kisame was. But Itachi also had changed slightly since our first meeting. Even now walking beside me it was like I was a younger sibling that was tagging along on an outing. I wasn't welcome but I was tolerated and even slightly enjoyed if only for the company.

'We will see what Leader wants' Itachi said ending the conversation as I noticed we were at a small waterfall with a bunch of rocks. Kisame grinned and grabbed my upper arm lightly. He was being extremely gentle with me unlike the others as he marched us straight at the rock wall. I waited for the impact as it merely shimmered over us and we were standing inside of a dark cavern.

'You're late' A dark commanding voice boomed as my spine went ramrod straight at the tone. The other members had also stood straight at the sound of the voice.

'We are sorry Leader. Deidara had the prisoner in the store for longer than expected' Itachi said smoothly as I tired to pin point the location of the voice. Kisame's hand was still on my upper arm as we stood in the darkness.

'Bring her forward' The voice commanded as we moved as a single unit to the base of a small waterfall. Through the gloom I could make out something that looked like a hologram with a rainbow fuzz around the edges with static in the middle as two eyes peered out at me. I bowed very low as leader seemed surprised at my actions yet pleased at the same time. I didn't rise as neither of the other Akatsuki members said anything. 'Stand. You have manners, that is good now do you know why I commanded you be brought to me?' he asked as I nodded. He waited for me to speak.

'I was brought before you to collect Orochimaru's ring to join the Akatsuki because you are in need of a ninja who specializes in field diagnostics of wounds.' I said as leader seemed pleased by my response.

'Indeed. Kisame, Itachi leave' he said as the two Akatsuki members immediately disappeared in whirls of leaves. I felt incredibly vulnerable in that moment as Leader's eyes bore into mine. 'I know you have had a past connected to Orochimaru. How' he demanded as I looked this man in the eyes.

'Kabuto, His underling, was my mentor. I have no more knowledge other than that' I said as leader nodded and stared at me as if looking for something.

'Do you know the ring you are looking for?' he asked as I reached inside of my shirt. He seemed confused as I pulled the chain off of my bra and pulled it out ring and all.

'Is this is ring?' I asked as I showed him the badly warped ring. It was men's silver ring with a jade inlay that had the character Sky marked in the top of it. Leader scrutinized me for a moment before nodded.

'How did you acquire the ring?' he asked as I recalled the day that Kabuto had tired to kill me.

'_Kasumi, can you come here?' Kabuto called as a smaller version of kasumi walked into the medical tent. Lying on the table was a pale man with long black hair and strange purple tattoos on his face. Immediately Kasumi started backing out of the tent. Something was screaming at her to run. _

'_Kasumi?' Kabuto turned to her with a scalpel in his hand. 'I said come here' he demanded as he reached out and grabbed her arm stabbing the scalpel deep into her skin. _

'_NO LET ME GO!' she roared kicking her mentor hard in the crotch and trying to make it for the door. It was blocked by the same man that had been on the table only now he looked like he was in extreme physical pain. _

'_Do what he says Kasumi' he hissed as tears flooded the girl's vision. 'Be a good girl and do what Kabuto says' he hissed as Kasumi grabbed the first thing she could which happened to be a surgical light. _

'_STAY AWAY FROM ME!' she screamed as Kabuto and Orochimaru crept closer. 'STAY AWAY!' she pushed chakra into her hands as they glowed blue. Both men laughed as Kabuto swung out to try to cut her throat as she dodged and planted her hands on each of their bodies. Orochimaru grabbed her hand as she felt the ring slid onto her finger before she panicked and pushed the chakra out of her system into his._

_The scream that ensued was horrific after she realized the forbidden jutsu she had just used that would have her killed by Konoha as Orochimaru crumpled to the floor. Kabuto glared at her as she ran from the room. Ran and ran and ran until she collided with a strong chest and a mop of grey hair. _

'Orochimaru attempted to kill me as a teenager and from the encounter I ended up with the ring' I said as leader seemed to contemplate this.

'Has he never tried to get the ring back?' Leader asked as I shook my head.

'I don't think he knows I have it. It was really damaged from the condensed healing chakra' I said and looked at the severely warped ring. They had had to cut it off my finger it had been melted so badly from my attack. It probably would never be wearable again.

I noticed that Leader took a step closer to me as I tried desperately not to flinch under his gaze. That man was utterly terrifying and he wasn't even completely here. He reached his hand out and gestured for me to hand over the ring. I did as I was told as I watched him mould the ring like clay until it was in perfect condition. I blinked. How the hell had he done that?! I was really in way over my head, these people were insanely high ranking ninja if they could manipulate metal just with their chakra.

'Hold out your left hand' he commanded as I did just as he asked. Leader didn't move as the now perfectly formed ring slid onto my left little finger as it tightened snugly. There wasn't a chance I could get that off as I felt something burning on my hand. I looked down to see the ring glowing white hot where the character for SKY was created as I bit back a scream that was trying to fight its way forward. I looked at Leader as he wore a smug look as I fell to my knees and held my hand gently again my chest. Oh god, the pain was so bad as I could smell burn flesh as I gently tugged the ring off. Underneath was a raw brand that had the insignia of SKY exactly where the ring was.

'That is the finger you will wear your ring and that is the finger you will stand on to seal the tailed demons.' He said as I nodded. My eyes were tearing up from the throbbing pain in my hand as he gave a low chuckle. 'I have no more business with you Kisame, Itachi come in here please' he commanded as all I could do was stare at my branded hand.

!.!.!.!.!.!.!

Outside Kisame wasn't sure what had made him so anxious about leaving the little medic kunoichi in the cavern with leader. Maybe it was because she was so small, or maybe because he knew she had very little battle training under her belt and Leader could be utterly ruthless at times.

'You seem very taken with the medic' Itachi's cold voice cut through Kisame's thoughts as he looked over at his stoic partner. He laughed mirthlessly and looked back at the waterfall.

'Not often a woman doesn't run screaming from me' He sighed as Itachi slid obsidian eyes over to his partner. Kisame knew that look, Itachi was disapproving of something as he turned to the small man.

'She's odd' Itachi commented randomly as Kisame sighed and set down Samehada against a boulder. 'She doesn't seem to be afraid like most are of the Akatsuki yet, she has no training to fight us if we did want to kill her' Itachi mumbled more to himself than to Kisame as the large Shark nin rolled his shoulders and flopped down onto a patch of damp grass.

'The file said she was manic depressive. Maybe she wants us to kill her. She said herself she's never going back to Konoha. I don't blame her personally. Bunch of assholes your village can be.' he said lying back as Itachi stood staring at the woods around the little clearing.

'She seems…defective.' Itachi mumbled as Kisame opened a golden eye to look at the Uchiha prodigy.

'She needs basic training' Kisame said blandly 'She has little to no experience with weapons or jutsu. She will be a liability if we have a medic who can't defend herself or her patients' He looked at Itachi as Itachi nodded. He agreed. They could not afford to have the talents of a good medic gone to waste based upon crappy training especially if Leader was willing to accept her into the Akatsuki ranks.

'Kisame, Itachi come in here.' Leader's voice came through the waterfall as both Akatsuki members straightened their robes and entered the dark dismal cavern.

Kisame was a little disturbed to see the figure of the short kunoichi hunched over on her knees as he fought with himself to walk over and ask her what had happened. Instead he stayed beside Itachi and waited for Leader's orders.

'Seems you don't have to go hunt down Orochimaru, she already had the ring from a … previous encounter. Itachi, give this to Tobi and Zetsu' leader handed a scroll to Itachi as Kisame moved to where Kasumi was still crouched and was now shaking. Kisame was impressed, kasumi had taken on Orochimaru and managed to grab his ring. Most Akatsuki members would die before they ever let their ring be taken, let alone from someone as week as her.

!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.

My god my hand hurt as I heard Itachi and Kisame come back into the cavern. Leader was talking to them as I felt Kisame come to stand close to me. I pushed chakra into my finger but it seemed like however the brand had been made my chakra wouldn't heal it as I gasped at the doubling of pain that action had caused.

'Don't try to heal it. It will heal on its own in time' I heard Kisame's gruff voice as I nodded and shakily got to my feet. I looked to my right to see Leader and Itachi watching Kisame and I as I bowed to Leader.

'Leave' Leader commanded as Itachi turned and left as Kisame grabbed my upper arm and once again escorted me from the cavern. I tried to ignore the pain in my hand as I was momentarily blinded by the harsh sunlight outside of the cave.

'You did well' Kisame's voice was so low I just caught the compliment as we kept walking. I looked up at the shark nin. Kisame was odd. I stared at him for a few more minutes trying to see what exactly he was thinking as he turned sharp golden eyes to meet mine. 'Something interesting about my face?' he asked as I shook my head and looked away at the trees. One thing I had noticed was that Kisame didn't have any eyebrows. Well, he did but they were very slight lines of the same odd shade of blue that his hair was. I didn't dwell too long on the shark nin as the pain in my hand throbbed, god it hurt. But I kept silent as we followed Itachi along the path. Kisame once again slapped the irritating straw hat on my head as I followed along.

'So how did you manage to get snake boys ring?' Kisame asked as I glanced up only to see the lip of where the hat me his collar. I turned back to watch Itachi's back as he walked.

'Freak accident' I said as Kisame gave a low chuckle.

'With Orochimaru, no surprise but not many can go again someone like him and survive' He commented as I glanced at his sword handle just visible over his shoulder. Kisame was one of the few Akatsuki members that I found I could trust as unsettling a feeling as trusting an S-ranked criminal was. But at the same time that same little voice hissed at me to keep my mouth shut and stay as far away from them as possible.

'Kabuto, his minion was his mentor. I caught him doing something to Orochimaru and a fight ensued. Leaving me with the ring' I said as suddenly a hand whipped out and grabbed my neck slamming me against a tree as I gagged and gripped the forearm now holding me to the bark of the tree.

'Kisame, check her for a curse seal' Itachi's voice was cold as I opened m eyes to stare into rapidly rotating sharingans as I close my eyes and fought for any little amount of oxygen. I felt hesitant hands gently pull of my hat and aside my cloak and tunic as I felt Kisame gently check all around the base of my neck and shoulders. My vision was being dotted with black spots as my limbs were going numb from lack of oxygen.

'Nothing' Kisame said as I was released from Itachi's death grip. I gasped and fell to my knees as two hands steadied me so I wouldn't fall over. 'You could've asked her Itachi' Kisame's voice was annoyed as I felt him gently set my tunic and cloak back into place. My throat was burning as I gasped in air and tried not to hyperventilate as I leant against Kisame for a bit of support as he pulled me up to stand beside him. I swayed dangerously as Kisame held my shoulders politely keeping me from toppling over.

'She could've denied the mark. Most do' Itachi's voice was emotionless as I heard something along the lines of irritation from Kisame as I gently felt my neck. That was going to be a nasty bruise as Itachi started walking again.

'That still isn't a reason to strip search the girl!' Kisame snapped as Itachi turned and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything before walking away. Kisame gave a growl as he swept me up into arms and caught up to Itachi. I was quite sure my face was bright red as Kisame held me again him, I was thankful for the high collar and hat as not a word was spoken between the duo.

The pain in my hand was back as I just lay there. Kisame seemed really angry at Itachi for what he'd done to me. I was curious as to why as the same little voice jumped up telling me not to meddle in affairs that could get me killed. I listened to that voice as I heard the familiar click clack of bamboo branches in the wind as I looked up to see we were nearing the house. A few feet from the house Kisame set me down as I stood and gave a small bow before taking a right and walking along the veranda.

I had only made it about twelve steps when I nearly collided with none other than Hidan. I skirted him deftly hopping on one foot to get around him as he breezed by not bothering with a second glance as I could feel a molten hot glare hit my back. I turned to see Kisame looking rather angry as he stomped along behind me.

OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!!!!

I doubled my pace as I was jogging and slid around another corner, rebounded off a wall and turned to find myself at another corridor. Damn, why couldn't things go my way as I turned right and smacked right into a hard chest face first. There was a grunt as I fell backward jarring my tailbone and landing on my wounded hand as I yelped and pulled the appendage to my mouth. It was reflex as I held my pinky to my lips as I looked up to see Kisame.

He didn't look angry anymore just irritated and slightly concerned as I sat there staring at him in silence. It stretched to become almost uncomfortable as he sighed and reached a hand out to help me up. I accepted as he pulled me to my feet. He immediately dropped my hand and turned to go back the way he'd come as I heard him speak.

'We're short of rooms so you'll be rooming with me for the time being.' He said as I blinked. I would get my own room? I thought about for a second as Kisame didn't move, he was waiting for a response. I thought about it, staying in Kisame's room. It really didn't bother me until I realized exactly where I'd be sleeping. Well, I guess I'd just have to deal with it. It wasn't like I was with Itachi or Hidan or Zetsu. I shivered at the thought as Kisame turned back to look at me. I gave a slight smile.

'No problem' I said as he nodded and disappeared around a corner. Why the hell was I being so damn nice? I shook my head as I knew the answer. These were powerful shinobi and some of them were downright freaky and there was no way in hell I was going to be by myself in a house where I knew a couple of them would probably rape me just for kicks.

I shuddered at the thought as looked at my still abused hand. I need antiseptic and bandages. Now, where the hell those were was a mystery to me as I cursed my stupidity for not just following Kisame as I sighed and plodded down yet another hall. I took a left and found myself at the cheery little bonsai garden in the middle of the house. It was quite pretty as I noticed all of the windows faced into the garden. At least I made it back to a central location as I heard a shower running and someone singing. I tried not to laugh as I heard Hidan singing away from a window to my left as I shook my head and took a right along the little wooden porch that ran along the outside of the garden.

I passed a window as I caught the scent of nail polish before I was assaulted by a shock of golden hair as Deidara leapt out of his window to hug me. I smiled as he let me go and looked me up and down.

'well, fully fledged Akatsuki member yea?' he asked as I nodded and he looked at my hands. 'wow, leader didn't go easy on you yea. Probably because it was Orochimaru's ring yea' Deidara gently handled my hand as he turned it over and examined it.

'I need some bandages and antiseptic. Can you get me some?' I asked as Deidara nodded and pulled me along the veranda, into a hall and down another as we passed Kisame's room and entered into the kitchen. Thankfully it was empty as Deidara rattled around in a few of the cupboards before producing a first aid kit. I thanked him and set to work applying hydrogen peroxide, polysporin, gauze and then some tape over top to keep it snug as I downed two acetaminophen and two ibuprofen for my neck as Deidara watched me work.

He obviously had never seen a medic at work even if it was simple healing like this as he was transfixed by every single one of my movements. It was quite annoying really.

'Can you stop staring at me? It's irritating honestly' I snapped as Deidara looked up at me.

'Wow someone's bitchy yea' he mumbled and wandered over to stick his head in the fridge. I wanted to reach over and smack the blonde man as I reigned in my temper. Going around slapping Akatsuki members was not a good idea for someone just welcomed into their midst and was probably weaker than all of them by a great deal.

I heard heavy footsteps as I stuck the last piece of cloth tape on my finger before Kisame rounded the corner and strode into the kitchen carrying his behemoth of a sword across his back. He stood tall and was watching me as I packed away the first aid kit and set it beside the sink. It was unnerving being watched so intently by those sharp golden eyes as Deidara slammed the fridge with a sandwich in hand making me jump at the sudden loud noise.

'Kasumi come on. I'm going to start your training.' Kisame muttered as Deidara looked at the taller man.

'You're training her? Sheesh don't kill her yea. I've trained with you and every time I end up being bed ridden for two days yea. Maybe you should let someone else help train her yea?' Deidara said in between bites of his sandwich as Kisame watched him almost measuring up what he said as I intervened.

'I think it would be great to have more than one teacher. I mean, each one of you is good at… some kind of jutsu so then why don't I have different teachers?' I said as both men seemed to think my idea was a good one as Kisame fixed his eyes on me.

'You would be willing to train with other Akatsuki?' he said as I caught the different levels of meaning under his tone. I winced. Meaning I'd have to deal with just more than Kisame and Deidara.

'I don't want her around Hidan or Zetsu they'll rape her yea' Deidara said as I looked sharply at the young man. He had been dead serious was the unsettling thing as Kisame gave the blonde a dark look. I flinched as both of them glanced as me as I quickly looked out the window pretending I had heard something.

'Itachi is best for genjutsu. I will ask him' Kisame mumbled to himself as he turned to me. 'Come on, let's go' Kisame looked at me as I nodded and followed him from the room. I followed quietly as Kisame didn't say anything and the quiet trip soon had an awkward feel. I wondered why Kisame was always so quiet around me yet so chatty with everyone else, was it because I was new? Or maybe because I was a girl? Maybe it was something much more simple than that. I was a stranger. I guess I might as well start a conversation.

'So Kisame, what's your sword's name?' I asked as he glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

'Samehada, why do you ask?' he muttered as I shrugged.

'Curious. Why do you keep it bandaged?' I asked as I heard him give a deep laugh.

'You certainly ask a lot of questions' He said as I smirked.

'Best way to start a conversation isn't it?' I said as Kisame opened a door and stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine.

'I suppose it is' he said as he stepped into a very scarred and beaten training ground that once resembled a backyard I assumed.

'So what are we starting with?' I asked as I stepped off of the porch and walked closer to Kisame.

'We'll start with taijutsu. How far and fast can you run without chakra?' he asked as I stared at him. He wanted me to run. I HATED running. I giggled as he raised an eyebrow. 'What's so funny?' he asked as I gave him a grin.

'I don't do running' I said as Kisame gave me a disbelieving look.

'Well, you will start running to be able to learn taijutsu. How about we spar to begin with then?' he said watching me as I sighed. Alright, so I had managed to get out of my evil nemesis running but now I had to spar against Kisame. This might hurt.

'I'll start at a genin level and go from there alright?' he said setting his sword off too the side as I swore I saw the bandages move. I blinked as Kisame took on a basic fighting stance. I stared at him. Was I supposed to start in a stance?

I mimicked his pose as suddenly he ran at me. I ducked the first blow and caught his fist managing to grab it and pull it up behind his back as he easily reached over and grabbed the scruff of my shirt and tossed me onto the ground. I was winded as I jumped to my feet and tried to swipe at his legs. He avoided effortlessly and grabbed my arm throwing me across the clearing where I tucked into a roll and stood once again. Kisame was right beside me as I reacted purely on instinct and punched him square in the chest as I heard a click and pain spread up my hand. I gasped and pulled back avoiding a punch from Kisame as I heard a tick of metal as I dodged a kunai swipe and did a one handed cartwheel away from Kisame.

Kisame was faster than I was though as he managed to deliver a solid punch to my shoulder as my back hit the wall of the house sharply. I hit the ground and gasped for air as he came closer. I rolled to the side and put my hands together into a seal as pain laced up my arm. I had definitely broken something in my hand from punching Kisame as I was shrouded in mist.

'Good trick Kasumi. I can still find you though' Kisame's voice sounded muffled as I leapt out of the way as I fist flew at my face before a kunai and a shuriken followed from a different angle as I listened.

I heard a shift of feet and cloth as I kept my eyes closed and listened to where Kisame was or where he was going to go.

Then I felt something.

It was like a flash of energy as my eyes snapped open and I dove to my right just before the ground where I was standing was a water filled crater as I felt the same flash of energy as I dove again and managed to clamber up into a tree.

What were those? I wondered as Kisame came to stand under the tree looking rather smug.

'How much do you know about fighting?' he asked as I looked down at him. I dropped the mist jutsu as the sun shone cheerily and quickly dissipated the mist as a cool breeze played through. I flopped down onto the tree branch and looked at my hand. I hand managed to break something in my thumb as it was quickly bruising and swelling as the branch I was sitting on dipped suddenly.

I looked up to see Kisame staring at me before he gently took my damaged hand and looked it over.

I was surprised. Kisame was incredibly gentle as he turned it over and looked at it before seeming to come to a conclusion. Little sparks seemed to be tingling in my hand at his feathery touches but then again that could've been the fact that my hand was broken.

'You punched me with your thumb in your fist. You really don't know much about fighting do you?' He said looking at me as I looked up at him. How had he known I hand punched him with my thumb in my fist? Sharp gold eyes fixed on mine as he gave a slight smile. 'I've done it myself and that's what the break looks like' he explained as I nodded. I had to fix my thumb as I braced myself for the pain.

Slowly I pushed chakra into the area and began the mending process. It wasn't a serious break just hairline fractures as I bit my lip at the pain before it was over and I let out a shaky breath. I hated healing it was so painful even if it did do good in the end as I felt Kisame's sharp gaze on me as I looked back at him.

'So what do I need work on?' I asked as Kisame gave one of his rumbling laughs and put his elbows on his knees.

'Just about everything, seems you pick up on my chakra flares toward the end. That's a good thing, you'll need to open up your senses to fight properly. You're technique is solid. You're strong in defence and avoidance but you didn't attack once. Do you have any attack jutsu that you know of?' he asked glancing sideways at me. I shook my

head. I only knew genin types of attacks, they were effective but there was only one technique that I had developed as an attack over the years which was extremely effective but I rarely used it.

'I've had enough training to be able to defend against most chounin. Anyone higher ranking than that I'm just about defence-less.' I said looking at the ground below as I felt a heavy hand land on my head and mess up my hair. I turned to look at Kisame as he was smirking.

'Don't worry. We'll get you whipped into shape.' He laughed as I gave a small smile. I wasn't sure whether to be afraid or glad as I nodded and Kisame removed his hand from my head. He looked away as I was suddenly remembered of Deidara, Tobi and Kisame's bet about my age as I grinned.

'So Kisame, how old are you?' I asked as he turned around to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

'29, why do you want to know?' he asked now on guard as I shrugged.

'just wondering Deidara told me about the bet you all had on me. I'm guessing Deidara is 20, you're 29 and Tobi is… frig, I don't know he acts like he's 7 but I'm going to guess 25 just because.' I sighed and leant against the trunk of the tree. Kisame nodded but didn't say anything as we just listened to the clinking of the bamboo poles against one another.

'So how old are you?' Kisame asked as I turned and looked at him. It was strange having a connection to another person, someone to talk to who wasn't screaming in pain or was half dead. Kisame, despite his appearance, threw me through a loop. He was polite and even seemed to have a sense of proper upbringing of a high class home. But at the same time, Kisame also seemed to have this anger that always seemed to follow him. Anger and power, if there was anyone who screamed alpha male it was Kisame.

Wow that last thought had come out of left field. I had spent way too many years with only textbooks for company as I realized I hadn't answered Kisame's question yet. Man, I really was doing an awesome job of trying to make a friend or even an acquaintance or partner of whatever sense.

'Oh sorry, I'm 26' I gave him a flash of a smile before hopping off of the branch. Kisame landed soundlessly beside me as I heard him stretch.

'I thought you were younger than that. We can do more training tomorrow, I think you need to read a bit about attack jutsu before Itachi starts you using genjutsu.' Kisame said as I stared at him. Itachi was going to teach me? This did not bode well as I blinked and stared at Kisame. My anxiety must've shown as he gave another one of his laughs.

'Itachi isn't that bad. Just do everything he tells you and you should survive' Kisame said as I suddenly felt sick. I was going to be killed by being taught by Itachi. Kisame picked up Samehada as I swore I saw the bandages shift as I stared at the sword. That thing was odd and I was determined to find out what was underneath it as I followed the shark ninja into the house.


	5. Mizu and missions

I immediately missed the fresh air as soon as we stepped inside. I was getting used to where things were in the house. A darker mood seemed to settle over Kisame I noticed the closer we came to the others within the house. I watched his shoulders tense up and his stance become more rigid than it had been outside as we continued down the corridor.

I noticed that we were headed toward the kitchen when Kisame took a sharp right down an adjacent corridor. I followed as we came to yet another door. He pulled it open to show a small study like room with scrolls that lined the walls. It seemed that the Akatsuki had a library at their disposal too. I suddenly wondered what else was in this massive house as Kisame walked into the room and pulled out a few scrolls and set them on the large oak desk.

'Here, read these I think they'll help' he said and breezed past me. I stepped into the room and turned to watch Kisame go back down the hall. He seemed so tense when he was in the house. I wondered why. Was it the other Akatsuki members? Maybe he had some argument with them. Either that or there were some stressful matters that he had to attend to. Being in an evil organization could do that to a person.

Why was I worrying about Kisame? He was a fully grown man and an elite ninja. His problems weren't any of my concern. I tossed my thoughts aside and sat at the desk with the small mountain of scrolls.

I started with the basics as I read well into the evening. I was quite tired at I put my head on the desk. There were lamps that I had turned on giving the study a dull glow as my head thrummed with everything I had learnt. I knew I'd remember it, all of it. I had an excellent memory for remembering just about anything I read.

'uh… knowledge' I put my head on the scroll and closed my eyes. Maybe the words would stop spinning in front of my eyes if I put my head down. It was warm in the study as I sighed and let my mind drift into the haze that was in between the waking world and sleep. I hadn't felt so relaxed in so long it was wonderful as my mind drifted back to how crazy the last week had been.

I had gone from working in the worst place imaginable. Worse than hell, fixing deranged ninja and soldiers and living alone always wondering why I was so miserable. Then by a random stroke of luck Kisame and Hidan had appeared. Sure they had slaughtered over 1000 innocent people just to get to me but in retrospect… really the Akatsuki had become my saviors.

What a weird way to look at it.

The Akatsuki as saviors, there was something I would NEVER tell any of them. They would never know how grateful I really was to them. Grateful. There was a feeling I hadn't experienced since childhood. It seemed that these people were making me feel a great deal of emotions I hadn't known I could emit. I really was a pathetic person. I couldn't even show basic emotions thanks to Konoha. Kisame must hate dealing with someone who doesn't know how to react to a social situation.

Why did all of my thoughts round around until they hit Kisame?

Because, I didn't really have a connection with anyone else in the Akatsuki? That was a lie, I could think about Deidara he was an acquaintance. Maybe it was because Kisame was one of the first people to show me a little bit of kindness since I had gone into the military. I really should thank him sometime…

I dozed off as I felt a chakra flare coming closer to me as I tried to rouse myself. It was hard because I was so tired as I heard the door open and familiar heavy steps on the hardwood.

'she fell asleep' Tobi's high pitched voice was quiet as I heard him shuffle around the room and pick something up off of the floor.

'She did have a long day Tobi. It takes a lot out of someone to talk with leader' Kisame's voice was soft as I felt a heavy hand land on my shoulder and give me a shake. I tried to wake up as I lifted my head groggily. I wasn't a morning person or just a waking up quickly person as my head hit the table and there was a clink as I knocked more scrolls off the table.

'Maybe Kisame should take Kasumi back to his room?' Tobi suggested as I heard a sigh before I was gently lifted from the table into Kisame's arms. I seemed to be getting carried a lot lately by Kisame as he shifted me so my head rested against his shoulder.

'Kasumi is so sweet when she's asleep' Tobi giggled as Kisame sighed and I heard them putting the scrolls back in order on the table.

'She's definitely an odd one. Not many women can stand the sight of me. Let alone allow me to be around them' Kisame's tone was quite defeated as I felt bad for the shark ninja. I guess the blue skin and shark like appearance would completely freak out normal women.

Did I just classify myself as abnormal?

I was shifted again as I heard Tobi make an irritated noise.

'Kisame is too hard on himself. Kisame should be nicer to girls then girls like Kisame!' Tobi announced as Kisame gave a tired laugh.

'Not that simple Tobi. I'm an S-rank criminal, most women would cower at the very sight of my presence plus… Not many girls go after one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist.' He said quietly as I registered about the seven swordsmen of the mist. An elite group of ninja from the village hidden in the mist that were the children that survived the final exam where all the children were pitted against one another to fight to the death to graduate. Kisame must've been a fearsome fighter then if he was such an elite ninja. But…what had caused him to join Akatsuki?

'Kisame is still sad about Mizu?' Tobi asked as I felt Kisame go rigid and I actually started to feel panicky. Tobi had hit a nerve it seemed as Kisame's temper seemed to lash out viciously as I heard Kisame slam Tobi against the wall. Fear came over me as my eyes snapped open and I looked up to see Kisame glaring at Tobi who was now pinned against the wall with Kisame's hand around his throat.

'Don't you EVER mention her.' Kisame grit out as I had to do something, anything! Tobi was wheezing as I was afraid Kisame would crush the man's throat as I grabbed Kisame's arm.

'KISAME, STOP!' I looked into enraged eyes as I held Kisame's arm in my grasp. He was still holding me in his one arm as I was willing to plead with the shark nin to let Tobi go. As much as it wasn't my right to intervene, something pushed me to want to stop Kisame from hurting Tobi.

It was weird staring into Kisame's golden eyes as for a moment I could've sworn I saw something akin to loneliness and a deep pain before his eyes because flinty and emotionless. The eyes of a shinobi as I heard him drop Tobi. Kisame held my gaze for a few moments as I heard Tobi's scratchy breathing from where he had collapsed to the floor.

A well of emotions rushed forward as I bit them back. Where the hell were these coming from?! I had gone years without emotions, why were they suddenly popping up now when I needed to be my cold, hard, asshole of a self.

Suddenly Kisame looked away from me and the emotions vanished as quickly as they had come. Gently he set me on the floor beside Tobi as I still watched his face. His face was carefully schooled into an angry sharp look as he turned guarded eyes to mine. All of my years of being a healer had allowed me to know exactly what was wrong with people, especially shinobi. I could see Kisame was in pain as he suddenly turned and strode from the door. He paused on the threshold but didn't turn around as I heard his low voice.

'Look after Tobi.' Was his command then he was gone as his chakra flare vanished. I sighed and cursed every known deity I could think of. Dammit why couldn't I help Kisame. I might've been a cold bitch but I hated seeing people suffer needlessly. I growled and turned to check on Tobi. He was laying sprawled on the floor as I gently knelt beside him.

'Tobi can you hear me?' I asked as there was a shift and his hand waved. 'good, I'm going to have to touch your neck to heal you okay? I'm not going to remove your mask though' I said and again there was another wave. I assumed this meant go ahead as I gently pulled back the dark fabric of his sweater. The bruise was already forming as I gently pushed chakra in to assess the damage. Kisame really had done a number as I found miniscule cracks in his vertebrae and crush injuries to his trachea and surrounding muscle and cartilage.

'Tobi this is going to hurt because I don't have an anesthetic' I said as there was another wave. I was gentle as I healed the worst of the healing first as I heard him grit his teeth. Mending bone was the worst pain imaginable as I finished as quickly as I could then moved to the cartilage and then the muscle. It was over within 15 minutes as I sighed and sat back. I was tired to begin with so this hadn't helped in the least as Tobi sat up and steadied me.

'Kasumi must be tired. Tobi thanks Kasumi for healing him' he chirped as I smiled. I was glad that I had fixed Tobi so quickly and efficiently.

'Yes, I am. I'm glad you're alright Tobi' I said as Tobi stood and helped me up as a wave of vertigo washed over me. Tobi steadied me as I saw a smiling eye behind the mask as he gently tugged me from the study and down the hall. Suddenly I was quite curious as to who Mizu was to Kisame.

'So Tobi… who was Mizu?' I asked as Tobi turned around and slapped a hand to my mouth and glared at me.

'Kasumi must never talk of her. Kisame will be very upset if kasumi talks about her. Never speak of her to any Akatsuki' Tobi's voice was different, lower, almost protective as I nodded behind the hand. Immediately Tobi brightened again. 'Kisame went out so kasumi has Kisame's room all to herself!' he announced and started pulling me down the hall again. I blinked but followed. I was never to speak about Mizu. Seemed logical after Kisame's reaction to what Tobi had said, I personally didn't want to be flayed alive by Kisame. That would be bad.

Tobi lead me back to Kisame's room as I thanked him and disappeared inside. A lamp was left on by the bed I noticed as various articles of clothing were strewn around the room but the bed was made. I realized that Deidara had lacked the insight to give me something to sleep in as I noticed Kisame's clothing I had worn to sleep in the night prior. Those would have to do as I picked up the folded clothing from the desk where I had left it.

I wandered into the bathroom and took a shower before changing into my spare set of clothes. Folding the new ones up and setting them on the desk. Slowly, I noticed the cloak fade to white as I hung up my Akatsuki cloak from the back of the chair. That cloak was a mystery to me. Always would be it would seem as I crawled into bed and turned off the lamp.

I was tired but my mind was too full to sleep. Snippets of conversation with Kisame, leader, Tobi and Deidara flitted through my head. It was quite irritating as I rolled over and shut out everything just trying to focus on sleeping as I managed to level out my breathing. The house was so quiet, even as the bamboo clinked eternally around the house. It still seemed too quiet. Maybe there was a meeting? No, I'd be involved in that if there was a meeting.

I listened harder pushing a touch of chakra to my ears to hear a little better. I heard so much more as I just lay there. The chirp of bat sonar, the hum of crickets and other night time insects, someone mumbling in their sleep, snoring, someone was moving around in the kitchen, the bamboo was clinking and clacking away as I heard the breeze whistle through the garden on the other side of the window. I rolled over to see Kisame had opened the window from when I had closed it as I relaxed into the pillows.

All I could smell was cotton, the smell of bamboo on the wind and Kisame's oddly comforting scent as I lay there. Strangely enough this was quickly becoming home as I smiled to myself. I hadn't had a home in years. I have lived in various locations but had never had a true home.

Not since sensei died.

I sighed and rolled over again and buried my face in Kisame's pillows. That ache never seemed to die as I suddenly wondered how Kakashi was fairing back in Konoha. Last I had heard he was in ANBU but was getting reassigned with a genin team that held Naruto on it. I wonder how that was going. I let myself drift as I fell into the world or dreams quite easily.

I didn't know what woke me up as I listened and heard the rustle of clothing by the dresser before heavy footsteps made their way to the desk. I froze. Who was in the room? I wasn't quite awake as I pulled a kunai out from where I had hidden one in my bra as whomever it was came closer to the bed. I waited and listened as I felt someone pull the cover back before I leapt up pushing the kunai against the person's neck. In a single solid move my attack had grabbed me and pinned me under their bulk with my back on the bed as I heard fumbling before the lamp flickered to life.

I looked up into the face of Kisame, my attacker who was now clad in only a mesh shirt and his boxers and looking rather perturbed as I gave him an apologetic grin.

'First time I've been attacked trying to get into my own bed' he laughed as I gave a nervous laugh. He still had me pinned and my legs were starting to fall asleep from his weight sitting on my thighs. Well this was awkward I had a very toned and athletic guy sitting on me who looked lost in thought. Right, he stared at me for a few moments before I sighed.

'My legs are going asleep' I announced as he climbed off of me and onto his side of the bed. I rolled over as I heard him sigh and put a hand on my shoulder.

'hey, listen. I'm sorry you saw what happens when I let my anger get the best of me' he said as I froze. Kisame was APOLOGIZING to me. I shot up and looked at him as I tried to deem whether he was trying to pull a fast one on me. He was looking at the bed sheets as I noticed how tired he looked as he looked up at me. His eyes were still guarded as I nodded.

'I'll just have to never piss you off, don't worry about it' I said as inwardly I thought about how angry Kisame must get when he fought people. There was a side of Kisame I never wanted to see. Bloodlust Kisame. That would be dangerous. My words seemed to have opposite effect though as he looked more tired and depressed than he had a few moments ago.

'Yes. Never enrage the monster of the seven swordsmen' he said bitterly as I reached out and touched his hand. Kisame held so much anger and bitterness it was astounding as I looked at my much smaller hand on his. I traced one of his knuckles with my thumb as I smiled at him. Kisame drove me through a loop, but there was something about him that drew me to him. Maybe it was his anger and his bitterness. He was similar to me in that sense. I was angry at the world. Angry beyond belief at the shitty hands I had been dealt.

Kisame seemed to be angry at something, maybe his own shitty dealing of cards in his life. He was a blue shark man after all. I was bitter because the world had slammed me into the dirt so many times that I had finally just given up of even hoping for something better, something worthwhile, would come into my life or I would be taken from my own personal hell into a new life.

Kisame seemed to be bitter about himself. There was something that he seemed to loathe about himself so deeply that it rolled off of him in waves of bitterness.

His golden eyes met mine as I yawned and gave his hand a pat before lying back down. I honestly didn't know what to say as I felt Kisame slid under the covers and lie down with his back against mine. It seemed that as far as I had come from Konoha and the battle fields, I was playing a different battle.

A battle of emotions and discovering myself as a person. In all honesty I really hadn't given much thought to the person I was. Now that I looked at it. I hated who I'd become. I was a shell of my former self. I wasn't Kasumi anymore I was some strange angry and bitter clone who had taken over my body and had a vendetta against the world.

I knew I would never loose that vendetta. I had been hurt too badly by Konoha, hurt so badly for the pain and anguish they had put me through.

I felt Kisame roll over and drape his heavy arm across my stomach as he snored away. A small smile crossed my face. Maybe the Akatsuki was a good change for me. I was already a heartless person, knowing how to detach myself from reality to get things done such a gruesome healing, maybe killing would be much the same. As shocking as that was, having Kisame's heavy arm over me grounded me to the fact that it was a good possibility that I would kill others for the sake of my teammates.

But again, the Akatsuki was slowly changing me. For the first time I had a home, companions, and a grudging acceptance. It seemed I was beginning to gain some compassion and love back into me as I felt warm at the feeling.

I must've been insane. No normal person would say they were being changed for the good by a group of criminals yet it seemed I was. I settled off into dreamland with an interesting look on life. Sure, I was angry, bitter, and high strung. But it seemed that the Akatsuki were some of the only people that could beat some sense of compassion, love, and hope back into me. It was a warm thought as I fell asleep listening to Kisame's rumbling snores.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame woke a few hours later as he heard Itachi knock gently again the door frame. He immediately looked down to make sure kasumi hadn't been disturbed as he cursed himself for the way he slept. He always seemed to end up draped over her smaller frame as he pulled away and stood to answer the door.

He heard kasumi sigh in her sleep and roll over as he glanced back to see that she had rolled into the spot he had just vacated. She really was strange as he opened the door. Itachi stood outside looking stoic as ever as he handed Kisame a scroll.

'Mission and orders' he said before he turned and disappeared. That was odd, usually Itachi wouldn't come in the middle of the night to deliver a scroll as he realized that Tobi must've told Itachi about what happened in the study. Anger bubbled up as he clenched him fist and put his head against the door frame. Damn Tobi for making him seem like more of a monster.

That was a dangerous path to wander down. Kisame immediately shoved his emotions into the bottom of his soul and closed the door quietly. He walked to the couch and sat down putting his head in his hands as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes and over his gills. Useless freakish bloodline limit, he hated those stupid gills and his blue skin but he'd been over hundreds of millions of times since he was a child.

It was just the way he was.

Thanks for the shitty hand of cards. Kisame sighed and tossed the scroll onto the top of the dresser. He'd read it later. He passed Samehada as it gave a rustle before he felt the sword's chakra calling out for him to use it. He ignored the pull and turned to where kasumi was sleeping soundly. She was sprawled with her one arm under his pillow as he noticed she had once again stolen his clothing to sleep in. He guessed Deidara hadn't had the insight to get her something to sleep in. He never would know what went on in the bombers mind, narcissistic twit.

Kasumi was a strange woman he realized. She wasn't as defenseless as he had thought but did she ever suck at combat. He had never seen a kunoichi who hadn't been trained properly to even defend against a basic punch or kick. It seemed Konoha had been falling behind in training their medical staff.

Kisame knew all about what had happened to Itachi. He personally didn't feel any compassion toward Konoha. They were a brutal group of usurpers and cheaters boasting the best shinobi around. Too bad their best had seen Konoha for what it really was an defected. He grinned at the thought of kasumi grinning and giving the finger to the great Hokage of Konoha as she stirred.

He watched as her face contorted in agony, then tears started to drip down her face as she twisted and gripped the covers and whimpered. She was having another nightmare.

Kisame watched for a few moments as he battled within himself. Kasumi. She was interesting. Incredibly frustrating and sweet at the same time with her rebellious attitude but understanding of the world for what it was. She vexed him. She really did. One minute she was being cold and prickly glaring at him or freezing as if he might kill her. The next she was begging him to stop from hurting someone or even touching his hand as a form of comfort.

Vexing. Very, very vexing.

Kasumi cried out and thrashed as if someone was trying to grab her as he sighed. At this rate she'd wake up the entire house and he did not want Hidan storming his naked ass in here at 3 am. Gently he reached out and shook her. She gasped and grabbed his hands and sank her nails in. Ow, that was going to leave a bit of a mark as he crawled onto bed beside her. She seemed to calm slightly as he pulled her against his chest and released her hands to hold onto her shoulders.

Slowly she calmed down until her frightened gasps and muttering died and she returned to a normal dream. How strange. Kisame had never had that reaction from any woman before. Usually they ran from the sight of him, or the whores asked if his mother was a goldfish. It was utterly degrading most days as Kasumi snuggled against him and sighed.

He laughed as he realized she would probably castrate him if she knew what she was doing in response to him hugging her. Hell, she'd probably try to kill him just for mentioning that she couldn't sleep decently without having him lying in the bed next to her.

How had she ever survived before?

He thought back to when they had first found her in the mess hall. Kasumi, one of the greatest field medics in her field, looking like the undead as she stared at them with flat, blank, soul less eyes. She had been frightening, still was in that sense. Her eye colour unnerved him and not much phased Hoshigaki Kisame. Her eyes were so devoid of life and emotion, flat maroon. Not a spark anywhere in them. But over the past 24 hours it seemed that something had shifted in kasumi. He didn't quiet get it. Another thing that he had found strange about her, she had gone from flinching every time he was around her to having conversations and even taking his advice.

Was kasumi not afraid of him?

He looked down at the mop of ghostly white hair and tan skin as her breath flitted across his chest. Maybe she wasn't, maybe she was. Either way there was one thing he made his mind up about in that moment. He definitely didn't want kasumi leaving the Akatsuki anytime soon as he lay back onto his pillow with kasumi sprawled across his chest as he went back to sleep.

!!!!!!!!!!!

'CHIRP CHIRP TWEET, CHIRP, TWEET, CHIRP' I heard the sparrows outside but they were so painfully loud as I felt the thrumming in my head. Great, what a wonderful time to get a migraine as I groaned and opened my eyes to the bright room before I immediately shut them again. Light hurt. I pressed my face into the pillows as I could hear the shower running. Kisame was up it seemed. Good for him. I looked up and squinted as I found the room darkening curtains and pulled them closed. The relief was immediate as the room plunged into darkness.

I sighed and lay back against the pillows. My head was throbbing as I kept still, the shower was deafening as I heard the taps squeak as Kisame turned them off and a low humming as I assumed he was singing to himself as he went about his morning routine. I honestly hated how loud everything was as I pushed the pillow tighter to my head trying to block out as much sound as I could.

This is what I received for being so stressed and up tight for the last few days. I hated when I let myself get so worn down that generated massive migraines as I heard Kisame tug the bathroom door open sharply. I cringed at the loud crack of a noise it made and pulled Kisame's pillow over my face. It smelt exactly like him as I lay there, oddly it was calming but my headache still raged as I heard him step closer to the bed.

'You alright?' he asked a hint of concern in his voice. I pierced loudly through my ears as I removed the pillow from my face. The room wasn't pitch black but dark enough that I could only make out his silhouette in the darkened room.

'Please keep your voice down. Migraine' even whispering my voice was too loud as I cringed and closed my eyes. He didn't say anything as I heard him moving around the room opening and closing a few drawers before he went back into the bathroom and I heard a tap being turned on.

'Kasumi?' he asked, his voice was amazingly quiet as the baritone didn't hurt my ears as badly as I looked at him. He held a glass of water and what I assumed were aspirin or Tylenol as I took them and knocked the drugs back. I lay back down and waited for the meds to kick in as I wondered how he would know how to diagnose a migraine as effectively as he had.

'how did you know what to give me?' I asked as I felt him shift his weight on the bed.

'I get migraines a lot when the air pressure changes' he said as I felt him stand and go back into the bathroom. I focused as best I could and pushed some healing chakra into the restricted blood vessels in my brain. The relief was immediate but the pain was still there as I waited to the medications to kick in. Some thing just couldn't be done with chakra like anesthetics, well unless you made them pass out but a simple pressure point was more effective for that.

'Anything you need?' he asked as I looked at the massive silhouette by the door. Anything I needed? I was dumbfounded, Kisame was actually me if I needed anything like I was friend or companion. It was unnerving but… made me feel oddly warm and…wanted.

Wow, that was an odd feeling. Being wanted. I blinked as he waited. I knew Kisame wasn't a patient man as I smiled the best I could.

'No nothing thanks' I whispered as he didn't say anything and light flooded the room for a moment before he vanished and his heavy steps receded from earshot.

Immediately I missed Kisame's presence as I froze.

Did I just miss someone? I blinked and stared at the ceiling as Kisame's scent drifted around me. I didn't miss anyone. I glared at the ceiling as my headache worsened. I groaned and mashed my face into Kisame's pillow. The Akatsuki was changing me and in a way I didn't understand. I definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with emotions as I tried to drift back into the realm of blackness.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame huffed as he dropped into a chair at the breakfast table. The wood groaned under his weight as Deidara looked up from his bowl of cheerios as the large blue man rested his head in his hand on the table.

'What's eating you yea?' Deidara asked as Kisame rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He was feeling drowsy from his interrupted sleep cycle thanks to Kasumi as Tobi bounced over and set a plate of toast in front of Kisame. He took a nibble of the toast as Deidara was still watching him intently.

'Kasumi has migraine and I have a mission that will probably take the better of the next two days. I need someone to watch her and keep Hidan, Zetsu and Itachi away from her.' He mumbled and finished off the one piece. Deidara had a huge grin on his face as he stared at the shark ninja. Kisame caught the look Deidara was insinuating as his face hardened into a sharp glare.

'You like Kasumi yea!' Deidara grinned as he suddenly found a kunai pointed at his uncovered eye. Deidara froze knowing he had overstepped a boundary as he stared up into Kisame's fierce glare.

'Say something stupid like that again and you'll no longer have hands to create artwork' Kisame threatened as Deidara grinned. He wasn't about to back down to Kisame as Tobi retreated to the kitchen.

'You know you do yea. Otherwise you wouldn't be worried about her or be keeping her in your room when the entire west wing is vacant yea' Deidara grinned as Kisame's hand shook with irritation. Deidara's words were cutting a little too close for comfort as Deidara's cocky grin made him want to beat him within an inch of his life.

He really needed to go let off some steam as he pocketed his kunai once again. This mission was a good thing it seemed as he stormed out of the house.

'Tobi you're in charge of Kasumi until I get back' he growled as Tobi gave a squeak of a reply before Kisame left the house far behind.

He knew kasumi was changing something in him. That irritating woman with her soft tan skin and light warm scent and completely irritating personality that never made any sense to him yet… it seemed like she was one of the only people who hadn't turned away from him when he touched her shoulder or her arm. Hell, she'd even let him teach her.

This was wrong.

Kisame growled to himself. This was wrong, he shouldn't be mooning over some random girl that Leader and Itachi had ordered him to look after. Samehada rattled in its bandages in response to the irregular flow of his chakra as he grasped the handle gently. He sighed and jumped to another branch tipping his hat lower on his head. His emotions were rolling as he stopped briefly in a tree.

This was too close to the feelings he had for Mizu. A deep pain welled from his stomach as he clenched his fist and punched the tree creating a decent sized crater in its trunk as a few branches crashed to the ground. He wouldn't think about Mizu, there was a reason he had defected from Mist and he definitely did not want to return to those memories as he pushed them back and locked them away.

Kasumi was dangerous for him. She was making him act more erratically than he had in a decade and feel things that he had thought had been crushed and demolished forever. Shinobi weren't supposed to have emotions. Kasumi was a perfect example of a shinobi. She was cold, detached and seemingly only had the basic emotions of irritation, fear, and indifference. He thought he had been the same way for years until she collided with him. Since she had appeared he had been feeling things that just made him confused as he remembered her flat maroon eyes.

A deep longing ran through him. He wanted to see those eyes warm, shiny, like liquid pools of crimson liquid as they smiled at him. He stopped his train of thought right there. No. No. No. he was not going to try to change Kasumi into something he wanted.

He was a monster. A demon straight from hell. No woman would ever want of their own free will to be with someone as frightening as him as suddenly, he felt empty. He looked at the darkening sky as he headed closer to wave country. Kasumi might of been a strange woman but there was no force in heaven or hell that would make her even want to be within a five foot radius of him. The village the man he was to deal with was closing in quickly as he pulled out Samehada. A good fight would do wonders as he pushed himself back and let rage flood forward as a grin slid across his face.

Yes, a good fight was exactly what he needed.


	6. Getting Schooled

I woke up feeling better than I had earlier as a ray of late afternoon sunshine bounced off the wall by the bookshelf. I sat up my headache feeling more normal than earlier as I pushed chakra into it to lessen the pain even more.

Glancing at the clock I noticed it was 4:56 pm as I crawled out of Kisame's bed. It was obvious that Kisame hadn't been back as nothing had been touched in the room as I dressed myself quickly. I wanted a shower but I would get one later, knowing my luck I was almost late for supper and I knew that it wouldn't be tolerated in the Akatsuki unless I was dying.

I stepped out into the hall and headed toward the warm smell of food as I saw Deidara's long hair fling around the corner as I heard his exclamation.

'-But Kisame said that he and I were to train her in the basics Itachi yea. What would be the point of you teaching her if she had no control to being with yea?' he asked as I flinched. That stung. I knew I wasn't a very good ninja but I didn't know I was THAT bad. I revealed myself and stepped into the kitchen as I noticed everyone but a certain blue man had gathered for the food Deidara was preparing as he pulled something out of the oven and slapped it on the counter as he fiddled with something else.

'Ah, Kisame's whore is here' Hidan grinned as I shot him a glare before a grinned.

'Jealous that I'm not yours?' I muttered as Hidan blinked before he gave me a sly grin.

'hunh, that blue fucker must be better than I thought. But why don't you try for a real man?' he asked as I gave him a dark glare. Hidan would readily rape me without a second thought as Kakuzu kicked him from under the table non too gently either. I looked around the room and stepped over to where Deidara was cooking as I turned back to Hidan who was cursing and glaring at the masked ninja.

'I don't see any REAL men in here Hidan. Especially if you were referring to yourself, I suggest you go find yourself a real man and model yourself after him' I said icily with a sugar sweet voice as Kakuzu's green eyes met mine for a split second as for a moment I think he was smiling under his mask before it was gone.

'Seems that this woman has good taste' he remarked as Hidan spluttered and struck up and argument with the man. I felt eyes on me as I turned to see Itachi staring at me intently with obsidian eyes as I bit back the wave of anxiety that twisted into my stomach.

I would never be comfortable around the Uchiha. There was just something about him that was unnerving and untrustworthy as he stepped across the room to stand closer to me as he spoke first.

'Kisame came to me with the proposition of me teaching you genjutsu and basic chakra control.' He said as I gave a nod. I had no idea Kisame had cared enough to even approach Itachi to talk about my training period. The two of them must have a great bond to talk so freely about things like that as I looked into Itachi's black eyes.

'I see' I said as he smirked seeming to stare straight through me with black eyes.

'Good, we shall start after dinner' he said a promptly turned and sat at the table. I blinked and looked at Deidara who looked a little pale and frightened as he stared at Itachi's back. Something nagged me that this was going to be very painful to have Itachi as a teacher. The man seemed to ooze sophistication and perfection as I took my place beside Kisame's empty seat and Deidara as we began eating.

Again Tobi served me before himself as did Deidara which I was surprised at as he gave me a little wink before going back to his own meal. I thanked them both quietly and resumed eating. It was always a quiet affair with the Akatsuki as I noticed Konan was also missing and a spot at the head of the table was empty (Itachi occupied the other). I guessed that there were a few missions that needed to be completed as I finished supper and helped Deidara with the dishes.

'Come woman' Itachi's voice was cold and sharp as I gave Deidara a small bow and left the kitchen meeting Itachi at the door to the training field. It was already dark as he stepped out onto the field and nearly molded into the inky blackness.

'Now. I understand you read the scrolls and memorized them correct?' he said as I stood paralyzed on the deck.

'Yes' I bit out as I fought ever single instinct to run as fast and a far as I could from Itachi.

'Good, you have a large supply of chakra as well. As much as any of the other Akatsuki members, minus Kisame, that will help you with the correct instruction. Now, remember exactly what the scrolls taught you and catch me in a genjutsu' he commanded as I stepped off of the porch and rapidly made the seals exactly as a fist connected with my shoulder.

'The boar seal was incorrect' Itachi said as I rubbed the tender spot. 'Do it again and faster' he said as I stared back at obsidian eyes. He was fast then, I hadn't even seen his flare before he'd moved. I tried again making my hands move faster than humanly possible with chakra as I created the seals flawlessly and stomped my foot into the ground. I felt a little of my chakra seep out into a web as I heard the shift of clothing before I ducked and rolled jumping to my feet only to have them knocked out from under me as I caught myself and swung at Itachi's legs only to have him catch my foot.

'Impressive. Maybe there is some hope for a leaf medic after all' he mused as I stared at him. He was enjoying this as he let my foot go and I stood before him. His eyes stared into mine as I bit back another wave of anxiety. 'You are pathetically slow. Your genjutsu is good for a child and your taijutsu is like that of a drunken monkey. I can see why Kisame would need you to be trained, you are a liability to the Akatsuki if you cannot fight and be a medic. So, I expect flawless perfection from you. Understand.' He said as I nodded. His words were like knives as I tried my hardest not to rise to his barbs as I pushed all of my emotions down and entered my soulless stance and nodded.

'yes Sensei' I said as he watched me closely with a smirk.

'Then we begin with your speed' he said as I nodded.

SLAM!

'too slow Kasumi' Itachi said as I was slammed into the dirt yet again. I growled and picked myself up. It was well into the early hours of the morning and I have been going hours practicing the speed jutsu Itachi had taught me. In 7 hours I had only managed to nick him once with a kunai on his pinky finger as I climbed to my feet.

'I expect flawlessness. So far you've achieve uselessness. Even a child could understand this and you cannot even manage to hit me once decently, you're a complete failure.' He jibed as I pushed down all of my emotions and remembered exactly everything I had learnt so far before I ran at him.

SLAM!

This was getting so tiring! I ran at him again from a different angle.

SLAM!

Again.

SLAM!

Again!

SLAM!

God Dammit!

SLAM!

I sat there in the dirt for a moment as suddenly the answer came to me. Feint the moves. If I was moving fast enough with the correct balance of chakra I could leave illusionary clones of myself to trick Itachi.

I looked over at Itachi's crimson sharingans, he needed them to keep up with my movement and spot any flaws. I had already progressed to a speed faster than was capable of following by the human eye.

'Giving up? How pathetic' he smirked as I got to my feet once again. I was pretty beaten by this point it would take me at the very least the better of an hour to clean all of the scrapes and cuts I had received as I felt a large chakra flare approaching as I looked at Itachi. He didn't seemed phased as just as I detected it, it vanished completely.

I still had my senses on red alert as Itachi made his move. I blocked and used the speed jutsu running straight at him as I feinted to the right as Itachi's swing missed and I managed to grab the kunai out of his hand. But sadly, I still wasn't Uchiha fast as he punched me in between my shoulder blades winding me and sending me crashing to the ground once again.

Everything hurt. I lay there regaining my breath as I felt the kunai in my hand. I heard Itachi step closer as I rolled over and suppressed the urge to groan at the fiery pain that was lacing up and down my body.

'Very good. I was waiting for you to figure that move out. Took you a great deal longer than I expected but you understand the technique now. Training is over, we will resume when I deem necessary' he said coldly as he swept past me and into the house.

I lay there and watched the stars above me. It was probably around 3 in the morning maybe later as I looked up at the stars and moon. I wondered what had caused such a massive chakra flare surely it couldn't of been one of the Akatsuki unless Kisame had returned early from his mission. The thought made excitement and warmth bubble through me as I froze.

Warm and bubbly? What the hell was wrong with me? I was thinking about Kisame 7 foot, pointy teeth, gills, blue, evil ninja!

_But those are only physical features_, that stupid little voice whispered as I growled to myself. I did not have any attachment to anyone. I was a kunoichi and a medic ninja. I did not have attachments or connections.

_You're lying to yourself again. Get over it and move on, you're in a different place now and can be a completely different person if you want to be. Start with Kisame, he seems like he needs a friend. _ That little voice always seemed to know **exactly** what to say to piss me off. But what made me angry was that it was right. That stupid voice was always right! Maybe I had smacked my head one too many times into the dirt as I sighed and looked up at the full moon flooding the training area as the clouds skittered across the sky.

I had been doing a great deal of thinking lately. More so than I had in years as a cloud covered over the moon briefly. I heard the clinking of bamboo distantly as I sighed. The Akatsuki was good for me. Even though they were criminals, so was I now, they had a purpose and something to live for. Now I did too, I was the medic, I was to protect the Akatsuki from harm and help heal them.

I had a cause.

I smiled to myself as the muscles protested as I heard the distinct sound of rustling cloth as I looked over to see a massive silhouette standing in the shadows of the porch. There was only one person I knew who was that large as I craned my neck to look at him.

'Kisame?' I asked as I heard a familiar chuckle as brilliant golden eyes met mine.

'I see Itachi worked you until you broke?' he said quietly as I gave a quiet laugh which was breathy because I hurt so much.

'yea, something like that.' I sighed and decided to try to sit up. I groaned as everything seemed to cause pain as I climbed to my feet. Kisame was still in the shadows as I shuffled my way over where he was standing but a massive hand stopped me.

'You don't want to come near me right now' he said as I blinked. Why wouldn't I want to come near him as I took another step closer as I smelt it. Blood and death. It coated Kisame like some rancid cologne as I looked at the arm that was extended into the moonlight. His blue skin was eerily white making the smears of crimson stand out like black brush strokes against his skin. It was unsettling yes, but nothing I hadn't dealt with before.

_But what did he do to become so saturated in blood and death?_ I immediately beat up the voice and locked her in a drawer with 100 pounds of C4 and made sure it was a concrete bunker. I looked up at Kisame as he held a very guarded expression, a shinobi expression as he watched me with cold eyes and an emotionless face.

I knew how Kisame had managed to get covered in blood judging by the spatter pattern. He had hacked someone with a sword… multiple times from the look of it as I looked up at him.

'You're a shinobi Kisame. You do your job, if it gets messy then it gets messy. Who am I to judge? Look at what my job has been for over a decade.' I said. I was putting up a brave front, honestly judging by the patterns I noticed that whomever he had been killed must've been butchered brutally by something like a cheese grater or a mace or something very heavy with a great deal of force. It honestly terrified me to know Kisame could be such a brutal murderer especially when I had worked on people who had that kind of damage inflicted upon them.

I could feel his gaze as I met his eyes and gave a smirk as my legs wobbled. I needed a shower and bed as I turned toward the door. I heard Kisame's heavy footsteps as mine were silent on the hardwood as I shuffled back to Kisame's room. As soon as we were in Kisame's room as made for the bathroom door as I heard a loud thunk.

On instinct I turned to look at Kisame as the sight I saw nearly made me cry. Kisame was literally covered head to toe in smears of dried blood. It was everywhere as my brain immediately thought it was his as I crossed the room and grabbed his arm and started looking him over for wounds ignoring my own screaming body pains.

'Kasumi what are you doing?' Kisame asked as I looked up to see a curious gaze as I immediately let go of his toned forearm.

'Making sure you weren't bleeding to death. Are you injured?' I asked feeling incredibly stupid for jumping the gun. What was it about Kisame that made me act so erratically? Maybe it was the fact that he was as different from 'normal people' as I was. Who knew? All I knew was that every time I was around him I seemed to involuntarily let down my barriers and just be… me.

'No I'm fine. A few cracked ribs but I heal quickly. I should be fine in a few days.' He said as I nodded. Boy did I feel stupid as I grabbed my Pj's from the desk before showering, changing, and returning to Kisame's room. He passed me and went for a shower as I glanced at the little blue alarm clock. 4:24 am as I sighed and crawled into bed. It was amazingly soft as I sighed and was asleep even before Kisame's routine humming started in the shower.

I cracked open my eyes as I knew something was wrong. What it was I couldn't quite gasp until the shocking pain hit me in a wave. Dammit! Charlie horses raged my body as I fought to breathe and arched my back to try to relieve the tension. I fought to breath as the muscles in my chest protested at the movement.

Oh god, I had never felt pain like this as I fought not to scream. I tried to push chakra into my limbs as the muscles only bound tighter when I tried as I gasped in a lungful of air and hissed it out between my teeth. The bed sunk suddenly as two golden orbs and a disarray of hair was in my vision.

'What's wrong?' Kisame's voice was sharp as I flinched under his dark gaze. My mind flicked back to earlier to the large spatters of blood that had covered his body as I fought again my mind. I had to breathe!!!!!

'Can't…. Breathe… hurts… uh!' my back spasmed as I bent trying to relieve the pain.

'Fucking Itachi' I heard Kisame curse as I tried not to scream from the pain as Kisame moved off of the bed. 'Kasumi, I'm going to have to touch you' Kisame warned as I blinked and gave my best attempt at a nod as the muscles in my neck bunched. I tried to move, do anything to alleviate the pain as I felt Kisame's strong and wide hands gently and hesitantly touch my arm and started to massage and stretch the cramped muscles.

I tried my hardest not to flinch away. It was instinct to me to pull away from any kind of touch but as Kisame bent and stretched the muscles in my arms the pain began to recede. Kisame's hands were gentle yet sure as he moved to my legs.

'Push against me' he commanded as I did as told. The ache there was lessened as I still fought to breathe. My back spasmed again as I arched and my mouth opened in a soundless scream as I heard another curse from Kisame as I felt hands on my shoulders. He pulled me up to a sitting position and gently pressed me forward until the muscles were stretched and I heard my back pop and snack like popcorn as Kisame gave a dark sounding chuckle.

I felt myself grow cold at that noise as his hands moved stretching the muscles as I tried to block that sadistic little chuckle from my mind. I was reminded of how dangerous Kisame was and from the sound my back had made, like I was being pulled in half, and he had enjoyed that noise. Kisame was a dark and dangerous man.

Then how and why was he being so gentle and trying to not hurt me but help me?

My mind spun as he moved his hands to gently lift my arm and stretch the various muscles as breathing became slightly easier. He continued to stretch my muscles as slowly, ever so slowly, I began to feel the pain lessen until I could breathe and the pain became a dull ache.

I lay back against Kisame as he shifted me so that I could relax against his chest. I was completely spent as I lay there like a rag doll before ibuprofen and a glass of water appeared before my eyes. I downed the medicine and just lay there catching my breath. Dear god, what in the seven circles of hell had just happened to my body as I flopped my head back to look at the underside of Kisame's scruffy chin turns out his facial hair was the same odd blue as his hair.

Kisame seemed irritated by the set of his jaw and how rigidly he was sitting as I ran my hand over his knee to get his attention.

'Thanks. But, why did that happen?' I asked as even my voice sounded rough as I coughed and cleared the phloem out of my throat. Kisame shifted as I felt him sigh.

'Itachi trained you past your physical limit. Your muscles weren't used to the strain and cramped up from the sheer amount of abuse they went through. I've had it happen to me many times before and I was expecting Itachi to do something like this.' He grumbled the last past venomously as I cringed at his tone. Right, dangerous evil ninja, not a friend I remembered as he ran a hand through his already messy hair.

The room was a light gray from dawn as we sat there in silence. My aches were being numbed slightly from the medicine as I fought the urge to sleep. Kisame was warm and his baritone voice when he talked was soothing as I felt myself just about melting over his lap.

'I don't think I've ever trained that hard in my life' I laughed as Kisame seemed amused and chuckled too.

'Konoha must be a terrible place to neglect their medics' Kisame muttered darkly as I nodded. Konoha was a place that was destined for doom. They had made so many enemies and I for one hoped they burned.

'Why did you leave mist?' I asked as he seemed stunned by the question.

'Why do you ask?' he answered my question with a question. Irritating.

'You know my reasons for never wanting to return to Konoha. I think it'd be fair to know a bit about you from the source' I said as I felt him shift and lean back against the headboard of the bed as I now lying across Kisame.

Awkward.

I rolled to the side and put some space between us as he seemed lost in thought.

'I guess I left mist because I was part of the ninja swordsmen. After our epically failed attempt at over throwing that rancid government we were hunted down by our own commissioners for killing the officials we were assigned by the commissioners to kill.' Kisame looked extremely pained when he said that as he stared at the brightening ceiling. 'It's funny how the people who command you can just as suddenly turn on you and point the finger at you for doing their dirty work. They remain clean and yet you have to deal with their punishment. Needless to say I left. It wasn't easy, I had to kill every person they sent after me…' he trailed off as I thought Kisame might cry as suddenly the look was gone and replaced by a blank emotionless wall. 'The Akatsuki was looking for members and I wasn't one of the swordsmen who died in fleeing from mist so I joined. Simple as that' he said and rolled over to face away from me.

It was a sad story. It made me quite angry actually as I realized that Kisame had also felt how harsh people could be on others. I had never been blamed for something like Kisame had but it made me want to find the person responsible and give them charlie horses until they apologized.

That would never happen.

I put my hand on his massive shoulder and gave him a pat. It wasn't much but hey, I wasn't the touchy feely huggy type. But his reaction to his once sentence still made me think.

_It wasn't easy, I had to kill every person they sent after me…_

So, it seemed like Kisame was hurting from his past. Who the hell wasn't in this house? This was like issue city! Deidara had MOUTHS on his hands, Tobi was like a 12 year old. Itachi had murdered his ENITRE family at the age of 16, Hidan was an immortal sadist, Kakuzu I couldn't even fathom, and Zetsu was a carnivorous plant man!

I rolled away from Kisame toward the wall as I felt heavy and tired. I knew I was going to sleep for a long time as I fell asleep to Kisame's warm baritone as he said something to me about taijutsu but I was too tired to listen and was asleep before he could finish his sentence.

!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame watched Kasumi fall back into her dreams as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Dammit, he couldn't get the feeling of her soft skin out of his mind as he fisted his hands in his lap. Fucking Itachi. He had deliberately gone against what he had asked of him and pushed Kasumi well beyond her training limits. Kasumi would be in no condition for training for another few days at the very least after they amount of cramping from lactic acid build up she had just gone through.

He growled and resisted the urge to punch a hole in the wall or hunt down Itachi and ring the damn Uchiha's neck. Self righteous, egotistical prick. Kasumi shifted in her sleep as his temper cooled in an instant as she rolled so that her forehead was resting against his hip.

He laughed quietly. This woman of all creatures was bringing out long forgotten emotions. It was a frightening prospect but he was learning to cope. But he still needed to kill Tobi for that remark yesterday. He glanced as Kasumi as he shut off all his emotions. Getting attached was dangerous and painful. Even if it was to someone you thought you knew. Kisame had learnt that the hard way as he traced a long barely noticeable scar that ran from his left shoulder straight down to his hip.

Yes, he was a monster and was to be feared. He stood and looked back at the sleeping woman who had rolled into the warm spot he had just left. As fierce as she could be she seemed so naieve when it came to dealing with people and interacting almost like she had never been taught how to socialize with other people it was so strange. Vexing woman. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to find anything about her that he could hate or pin a grudge against. Kasumi just was… well… kasumi. He couldn't explain it any better than that. It was almost refreshing in a way to see someone who wasn't about to bend over backwards to him because he was intimidating. No, in their first meeting she had stabbed a kunai through his foot then later healed it. Not many would do that. He had been positive that he would've had to let himself heal for about a week when she had stabbed him, she really was a fighter.

He moved over to the back of the door and noticed his still bloody and torn cloak as he glared at it. That mission had been a cake walk, Mist hadn't changed at all since he'd been there last. They still had all of the gaps he'd been expecting and had slipped in undetected and… took some liberties while he was there with people. He grinned as he remembered the scream of his wife when he had lobbed her head off of her body. Bitch had it coming.

Pushing the gore soaked memories away he dug around the inside pockets until he found the package that he had bought while in mist. It was a gift for kasumi seeing as Deidara had absolutely no insight in any affairs other than his own as he crossed the room and get the blue wrapped package on the desk. It wasn't much, just clothing a brush, a toothbrush, body wash, some Pj's and a few hair bands that he had found. He stretched and looked at the clock 6:47 am. He could go and do a bit of training then find the blonde terrorist and command him to take Kasumi into town for some more… feminine shopping so she'd stop stealing his underwear.

He glanced out the window to see Itachi leaving his room fully dressed with his hat as Sasori pulled in beside him and both left the house. Seemed Itachi was out on a mission as Kisame balled his hands into fists. He knew he could never catch Itachi if it came down to a fight. He had power and smart where as Itachi was a genius with a highly developed bloodline limit. No match really as he grabbed Samehada which clicked happily under his touch.

He needed to train before he broke something. Damn Itachi, he really was a sadist if he wanted to see someone as naieve and untrained as Kasumi fight to her limits just for kicks. Or maybe Itachi wanted to see the rise he'd get out of him? Well he had succeeded. Kisame liked Itachi as a friend he really was misunderstood a great deal of the time but there was that one part of Itachi that made even Kisame flinch.

Itachi really have a very cold outlook on life. He hated violence yet seemed to marvel when it happened to anyone other than him. Ironically enough. It was that cold indifference of watching people kill themselves as long as he wasn't involved was what shocked Kisame the most.

He sighed and slung Samehada over his shoulder. Thinking like this was getting dangerous. He hadn't thought about his life this much since he had been with Mizu. Immediately he cut himself off as liquid hot rage, betrayal and deceit bubbled up and made his chest constrict. He had to go demolish a few trees.

Dammit Kasumi! What was he doing to him?!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bright light of early afternoon assaulted my senses as I rolled over and looked at that open window. It was another pleasant late summer afternoon in thunder country as I stretched trying to relieve the stiffness in my body.

Immediately the sensation of Kisame's large, warm and gentle hands floated back to me as I froze. No BAD thoughts! I sat up and looked around. There wasn't a trace of Kisame in the entire room, Samehada was gone as was his dirty cloak from yesterday and it looked like someone had actually cleaned all of the dirty clothing off of the floor. I was impressed. I didn't think Kisame would be the type to willingly clean.

I staggered to my feet as my muscles wined and protested at the use as the colour of sky blue caught my attention. I turned to look at the desk to see a little package wrapped carefully in sky blue paper. I was curious, the package seemed so out of place in Kisame's room as I gently opened the tissue paper. A little bottle of shower gel rolled out as I picked it up. Strawberry. I loved strawberries as I dug in the package. And found a brush, some pj's that was pants and a shirt with little blue stars on black flannel. At least they were decent Pj's as I found a toothbrush and some hair elastics in the bottom of the package.

A smile came to my face as I gently fingered the smooth hair bands. They didn't have metal clips and were the really nice ones as I traced the red and purple rotating pattern. This was a really thoughtful gift as I felt warm and… happy. I blinked, what a foreign emotion, it made me almost want to find Kisame and hug the man. No one had ever given me a present before, even if they were necessities. It was so nice of him to go out of his way to actually consider buying something for me.

I smiled and climbed into the shower, my muscles were sore but the strawberry body-wash made up for it as I climbed out feeling refreshed as I realized one major lacking issue. No clean underwear. I sighed and peeked out around the bathroom door, no one was there as I tiptoes over to Kisame's drawers and pulled out a pair of boxers and a roll of bandages. This would have to do for now. Maybe I could convince Deidara to take me out shopping again. No, better yet I'd tell him he'd have to take me shopping. Why was I being so nice?

I dressed and ran the new wooden brush through my hair as it snagged on the long tangles at the end. I opted for no ponytail letting it fall in a white sheet down my back as I headed for the kitchen. I needed food after last night's training as I heard people talking and the usual banter of Deidara and Tobi as I rounded the corner.

I was met with a warm smile from Deidara and a hug from Tobi as Hidan was watching TV with his feet propped up on the top of the table. I was surprised at the contact from the ninja as I felt how warm and toned he was through his long sleeved shirt. Odd, I expected Tobi to be… pudgier I guessed.

'Hey Kasumi, we thought you were going to sleep all day yea' Deidara teased as I rolled my eyes.

'I wish, but no I had to find something to eat before I gnawed through Kisame's chair legs' I muttered as Deidara and Tobi laughed. Tobi let me go and went over to the fridge as I plopped down beside Deidara. He was in a game of checkers against Tobi as I saw that Tobi was winning.

'Can I play for you Tobi?' I asked as there was a cheerful nod from Tobi as Deidara moved. I laughed and took my one piece and hopped four of his in one single move and kinged myself. Deidara stared at the board agape as I grinned.

'How did you do that?!' Deidara asked as I shrugged.

'I didn't Tobi did' I said simply as Tobi returned and set a bowl of the most delicious looking ramen I had ever seen in front of me. I grabbed my chopsticks and started wolfing it down as Deidara stared at me in astonishment.

'Woah there, slow down yea! You don't wanna choke yea' he said as I reigned myself in as Tobi went to folding laundry in a basket beside where Hidan was reading. I looked at the book, it seemed to be some kind of religious text as he scanned a few lines mumbled something and went back to the TV for a bit before glancing back at the book.

It was Hidan after all. The psycho rapist.

'-so we're going back into town kasumi yea' I caught the tail end of Deidara sentence as I looked at him momentarily.

'What?' I asked as Deidara looked thoroughly amused before rearranging all of the checkers on the board again. None of the Akatsuki knew but I was pro at checkers. It was the only game I had owned as a child and spent hours playing against anyone I could.

'We're going into town yea. Kisame said you had some things that you might like to take care of yea' Deidara said as I was once again floored by the shark nin's thoughtfulness as my guard suddenly flared. Why was he being so nice? I would have to be on my guard around Kisame. The image of his blood soaked sink came back to haunt me as I must've paled because Tobi and Deidara gave me odd looks.

'Is kasumi feeling okay?' Tobi asked as I nodded and stood. Deidara stood too and rolled his shoulders as they popped audibly and he sighed. He had been sitting for too long if he could to that as I strolled to the kitchen door.

'Hey, Kasumi yea' Deidara called as I turned only to have something thrown at me. I caught it in one hand and discovered it was a green hoodie much like Deidara's black one. Very casual kind of clothing that wouldn't stand out as I pulled it over my issued shirt.

'Leader has a mission for you and Kisame little girl' Hidan muttered as I glanced over at him. Kisame would know about it and get back to me as I felt happy that I could get out and do something useful.

'Why would I go on a mission?' I asked before my mind really connected with what I was saying as Hidan turned to me with a massive grin.

'Because where you're going its highly probable that Kisame will either be killed or severely wounded. Let's hope your skills are up to par girlie' he grinned and licked his lips as I glared at him.

'let's go Kasumi yea. We just finished remodeling the kitchen after Hidan pissed off Konan yea' Diedara said as his hands gripped my shoulders and steered me out the door.

It was really nice outside as I felt too warm in the hoodie and immediately pulled it off and slung it over my shoulder. We didn't take Deidara's giant clay bird as he took a small almost unnoticeable footpath away from the house through the thick bamboo.

Deidara and I walked in a comfortable silence as I wondered how he could wear a hoodie in the summer heat. I toyed with one of my six piercings as I noticed one was missing. Great. Something else I'd need to buy.

I wondered about Deidara's hands. Those things were crazy! They must've been some kind of bloodline limit as I wondered if the mouths were attached to his digestive system or if they were purple based for chakra.

'Hey Kasumi yea, what's your last name yea?' Deidara drawled as he plucked a leaf from a passing bamboo tree. I blinked. My last name. right, not many people introduced themselves by their first names. I didn't find it useful really, it was yet another name. one that I hated for the fact that it had given me my medical code name. I stomped a few feet a head as Deidara jogged to catch up. 'Hey, you don't have tot ell me if it'll make you mad yea. I was just curious yea.' He said as I sighed. Damn Deidara and his acting. I looked at him as we stared at each other levelly waiting.

'Akahana' I said as he smiled and clapped me on the shoulder.

'see yea, that's not a bad name at all yea' he said as I shook my head and continued along the path slipping out from under his hand.

'Nothing that Konoha gave me was good.' I left it at that as I could smell the scents of town coming closer. Deidara caught up easily as I flinched when I pulled a sore muscle a little too much. Deidara didn't say anything option for silence as we slipped into town unnoticed in the lazy summers afternoon.

'alright, meet me back here in two hours yea' Deidara said handing me a small wallet with a little penguin stitched onto the front of it. We were standing in front of the café we had eaten at before as I nodded and we parted ways. I walked past a few stores and blinked realizing this was the first time I had been truly free.

I could go anywhere I wanted without the power of the military raining down on me as I felt lighter than I had in ages. I passed a little shop as I did a double take noticing it was indeed a lingerie store as I popped in. The ladies were friendly enough as I explained I was a perfume saleswoman and I needed practical undergarments that would last a while. They decked me out and even gave me a discount because of my charmingly warm attitude.

Wow the Akatsuki really were changing me into a better person as I waved and departed the store. I had been in there for an hour as I went and bought toiletries and some basic ninja tools that I explained were for my brother because he was away on a mission. With that done I was walking wearily back toward the café when I saw a snow cone stand. Now there was something I hadn't had since I was about 10 years old as I remembered how much I had loved the snowy treat on a hot summer's day. I bought two of them and had them rainbow coloured as the man smiled at me and gave me a wink.

I blinked and turned to see Deidara standing right behind me. I jumped as he caught me before I could fall over.

'There you are sweetheart!' Deidara was acting again as the snow cone vendor smiled warmly at us. He deftly took the cone from my hands as I was reminded once again that these were the Akatsuki. They could kill me just as easily as give me a hug as I felt Deidara gently kiss my cheek. 'Thank you Love yea' he said with a smile as he looped his arm with mine and started tugging me away from the snow cone vendor.

'What was that all about?' I snapped still feeling the warm spot where he had kissed my cheek. Deidara shrugged it off and took a bite of snow cone.

'fastest way you get you out of there yea' he said as I glared at him as jerked my arm out of his grasp. I was not some toy he could use as a prop to keep the Akatsuki under cover even if I was part of them. Deidara looked confused as I glared at him and nibbled on my rapidly melting treat.

'I am not a prop or toy. Don't use me as one or I will hurt you' I threatened with steel in my voice as Deidara raised his hands in self defense.

'sorry yea! I just thought you wouldn't mind is all yea' he said as I made sure he wasn't still acting before giving a curt nod and turned to head back to the gate.


	7. First Mission

The walk home seemed shorter. Maybe it was because I was agitated at Deidara's actions as I found my way back to the house without any problem. Deidara didn't try to say anything as I ignored going into the kitchen and stomped around the side of the house. Why was I so angry about him kissing my cheek? It wasn't like he had meant anything by it. Besides, human contact was a good thing, something that I needed. I growled at that little voice. I hated her maybe she should just go die.

I heard the sounds of fighting coming from the far side of the house as I wandered closer. Whoever it was they sounded strained like they had been at it for hours as I heard a loud sucking noise.

That was never a good thing. I turned to my right to see a massive wall of water rise above the wall of the house.

Definitely not good.

I grabbed one of the bamboo shoots and held on as the water pressure slammed over me. Dammit whoever used this jutsu was getting my boot up their ass personally as it subsided enough so that I now had my own little swimming pool in the area. Great. I treaded water before actually swimming over to where I heard the sound of battle again. I pulled myself out and stood on the water balancing my chakra as I took agitated steps toward the noise.

Honestly I was glad that Deidara had taken my things, saved them from getting soaked as I rounded the corner just in time to receive a face full of water clone.

'what the?!' I heard Kisame's shout as I toppled backward. I caught myself and pushed off the water's surface as the clone disintegrated and another version of Kisame was standing in front of me as I probably looked completely pathetic soaked to the bone standing on the water.

'hey hold up Kakuzu' Kisame waved to the other man as Kakuzu shrugged and turned picking up his things before leaving. I guess Kakuzu wasn't a very patient man as Kisame slung his mammoth of a sword over his one shoulder. 'good dodge' he commented as I nodded. Boy this was getting awkward fast.

'so you arranged a trip into town for me and Deidara?' I asked as Kisame nodded and gave a polite smile.

'yea, I was getting rather tired of you stealing my underwear' he said as I grinned. Maybe Kisame and I could be friends after all as I noticed the strange pull coming from his sword. So that was the chakra drainer I had felt from before when we had first battled.

'so your sword drains chakra?' I asked as Kisame glanced at the bandaged item which distinctly rustled beneath the bandages.

'uh yea, I don't really notice when it does it.' he said as I immediately felt the pull stop and the bandages settled once again. I wondered what on earth was underneath all of those bandages as I glanced up to his forever guarded golden eyes.

'Hidan said we had a mission' I said as Kisame looked confused before agitated as he stared at a fixed spot over my head his hands tightening on the grip of Samehada. I involuntarily took a step back from Kisame as that same violent aura seemed to leech out of him before it vanished again as he drew in a deep breath.

'Well I better go see what that is about. I suggest you go pack. We'll be gone for a few days most likely' Kisame said as he turned and vanished into the house. I stood there staring at the rapidly fading ripples his footsteps had made across the flooded area. I doubt I would ever understand the inner workings of the Akatsuki. But I was content knowing that I was accepted here. My anger had dissipated since coming outside and speaking with Kisame. How odd, that strange blue man had the oddest effect on me even while intimidating the shit out of me. I put my hands in my pockets and strolled the way Kisame had gone. I guess I would go pack. I wondered where and how many days we would be gone for.

Would I survive?

There was an odd thought. I hadn't given much thought to my life, I had always known someday I would die. Probably sooner than I would've liked too either by someone else or myself as depressing as that was. I found Kisame's room easily. I knew where all of the rooms were now, they had become ingrained in my mind where their location was as I opened the door.

Deidara had left my bags on the bed as I crossed the room and started to unpack them. I'd have to thank him later. Dammit, why was I being so NICE?! I glared at the packaging as I noticed something black sticking out of the side as I pulled it out. The fabric was soft as it unfolded into an Akatsuki robe my size. I smiled, so this had been the reason Kisame had sent Deidara and I into town. I also noticed a small black backpack had been set beside the parcels as I unzipped it and took a peak. Inside was an extensive first aid kit as I sorted through the various bandages, antiseptics, stitches, needles and anesthetics that were all strategically packed in non-breakable bottles. I slid on the robe and zipped it up before packing away the few articles of clothing I had to my name and some basic toiletries as I heard familiar heavy footsteps coming down the hall.

'Hey Kisame' I said as the door slid open.

'Uh hey. We better get going' he said as I nodded and slung my pack over my shoulder turning to face him. He held out a familiar bamboo hat as I took it from him and he eyed my as if sizing me up. 'do you have any weapons on you?' he asked as I blinked. Weapons? I had whatever was left in my kunai pouch and hip pouch.

'Not many' I said honestly as he nodded and opened the top drawer of his dresser. Within five minutes I was at least five pounds heavier from all of the metal he had told me to hide in various places as I slipped a small dagger between my cleavage. It was odd that I was being so heavily armed as I raised an eyebrow at him. His eyes were still guarded as he caught my glance.

'we'll be heading into an area where… Akatsuki aren't very welcome to say the least' he said as I nodded. As if we were liked anywhere, I was now a part of a band of evil ninja who were hated and feared across the five great shinobi nations.

'right. Well, doesn't matter. No ones ever been happy to see me' I said cheerily as Kisame fixed me with a strange stare. I couldn't decipher the look but it seemed almost like he knew what I meant before his features were once again schooled flawlessly. He didn't say anything as he put the hat on and left the room. I followed behind much like a puppy or a small child as we left the house through a door way I had never been through.

The silence stretched as I decided to walk beside him not behind him like someone inferior as I looked at him. The hat really limited your vision but covered my face almost completely as the little bell on the front dingled with every step.

'so where are we going?' I asked as Kisame gave me a glance before looking forward again. We had made it to a long road that was obviously highly traveled by people judging by the large wheel ruts as I stepped cautiously as to not roll my ankle like a genin.

'fire country' he said as I nodded.

'Konoha?' I asked as he looked at me, his golden eyes staring at mine as if trying to judge my reaction.

'yes, we're looking for someone specific or information on the person' Kisame said as I nodded.

'And who would that be?' I asked as Kisame didn't bother to look as me as he seemed to settle into a more comfortable stride which was equal to two of mine easily.

'The nine tailed fox sealed in a boy called Naruto Uzumaki' Kisame said as I froze in my step. Naruto. Sensei's little boy. Kisame stopped a few paces ahead and looked back at me. My mind was racing. Naruto. We were after Naruto. I looked up to Kisame as he was watching me as if I had just told him that oranges were in fact purple.

'Naruto Uzumaki?' I asked my throat suddenly dry as he nodded watching me with suspicious eyes.

'Is there a problem kasumi?' he asked as I shook my head. That strange aura was coming from him again. Naruto. Of course it had to be Naruto, the one person other than Kakashi that I could never hurt for his meaning to me. I prayed to whatever deity would listen that we would fail this mission just for the sake of Naruto.

'No nothing. The name shocked me as all.' I said as I caught up to him. I kept my eyes forward as I could feel Kisame staring at me, almost staring right through me. It was freaky really before his stare turned away from me.

'I want you to stay out of any battles we get into. You definitely won't be able to defend yourself very well' he said gruffly as I glared at him. I could defend myself just fine thank you very much! I had been for the last 26 years of my life. I didn't say anything as I gave Kisame a glare. He matched it as this continued for a few minutes before I looked away. Dammit! He was too intimidating especially with those golden eyes.

I watched the people we passed on the road as they stared at us in mild fascination. Obviously cloaks like our stood out as we walked as when we passed towns urchins would run over and beg for money as Kisame's gaze would send them scurrying back to the village limits.

I had never traveled before. Everything was a new experience really. Seeing people pass me on the road carrying carts laden with goods or runners as they did laps between villages. A little stone house caught my attention as I stopped to look at it. It had fruit and incense burning as the characters read a prayer to one of the ancient polytheistic gods. I stood and stared at it as I noticed Kisame had stopped to wait for me a little way up the road.

'What is this?' I asked pointing to the little stone house as Kisame tipped up his hat up to stare at me in astonishment.

'That's a shrine. Some towns erect them for travelers to pray at or if an accident happened near the area' Kisame explained as I nodded. It was a nice idea, rather useless in my opinion, but I guessed it brought comfort to a great many people. I turned and caught up to Kisame as he was staring at me with an odd expression.

'What?!' I asked as he shook his head.

'You really have been sheltered haven't you?' he asked as I glared at the lip of his hat. He didn't even seem to notice the scathing look as he glanced back to look at me. I met his gaze as he smirked and shifted Samehada on his back. I immediately felt extremely depressed. I had lived a very sheltered life from the world. I knew the horrors of war, the brutality of people, I knew the military and camps, codes, and reconnaissance. But little things like shopping, chores, roadside shrines, little things that were common for everyday people were foreign to me. I had lived in a world that while brutal and barbaric had sheltered me from living a life with the simple knowledge of what things were in the outside world.

We walked on in silence as a few people passed us. I recognized them as off duty soldiers from fire country as they gave us dark looks and hissed to one another. I pulled my hat low and quickened my pace as Kisame matched my strides easily catching my glance as he looked over at the group of four men who were talking in hushed tones.

'Hey, if you have something to say I suggest you spill it before I spill your guts' Kisame barked as the four men straightened and glared in our direction.

'I bet you would you murderer!' one snapped as I glanced at Kisame. That rage seemed to have flooded forward as I took a step closer to his side. Honestly, I was terrified of Kisame but I realized that he was standing up for me.

Kisame grinned as the two men in the back looked utterly terrified of Kisame. I just waited as the spitfire glared at Kisame.

'You want to see a murder?' Kisame asked his tone dangerously low as I heard Samehada clicking restlessly in its bandages. I stood firm beside Kisame as the guy beside him glared at Kisame as well.

'As if you could do anything! You're traveling with a woman, how pathetic is that?' he yelled as I glared at them. Ignorant assholes. I cracked my knuckles as Kisame glanced at me.

'hurt them.' I said as Kisame grinned. I watched as Kisame moved so quickly that he had broken the one man's neck and torn his head clean from his shoulders and tossed the other clear across the road into a tree where he was skewered on a broken branch before any of them could react and reach for their weapons. The other two ran off as Kisame growled and made to chase after them as I jumped to his side. 'Let them run' I said touching his forearm gently as he looked back at me bloodlust in his eyes. I watched as it slowly receded and familiar respectful golden eyes returned. He gave a nod as I let my arm fall and turned to continue on.

The incident was soon forgotten but the melancholy seemed to cling to me as we kept walking. Kisame didn't say anything as the sun began to set. I was so sore as I struggled to keep up to Kisame. Damn, I hated being so weak. I might have great reserves of chakra and a good brain but with no training or physical endurance I was weaker than a kitten. I sighed as dark finally fell on the road and we were immersed in inky darkness.

'We'll stop here for the night' Kisame announced as he gently grasped my arm and lead me off of the road and through the trees. I brushed branches out of my face as we came to a small clearing. It wasn't much but there were a few leaves on the ground that would be soft enough to sleep on as Kisame went about uncovering a small fire pit and some wood hidden in the crotch of a tree as in no time we had a small fire going.

Kisame flopped down against the trunk of a tree as I stayed standing where I was. I didn't know why but the closer we came to Konoha the heavier I felt. It was almost like I was heading to my own death sentence it felt like.

'Are you going to sit down or stand there like a tree?' Kisame's gruff voice brought me back to the now as I sat down across the fire from him on a log and removed my backpack and rolled my shoulders. An impressive amount of pops and clicks came from them as I sighed and put my hands on my knees. I watched him carefully unwrap Samehada as I saw layers of what looked like pointed fish scales made of silver. Each one of the scales seemed to move as if they were breathing as I watched Kisame pull out a small cloth and some type of salve and began rubbing it into the scales and underneath each of the scales.

'what kind of scale is that?' I asked as the words were out of my mouth before I thought about them. Damn brain being slow. I cursed myself as Kisame looked up to see me watching him. He smirked and went back to gently and thoroughly rubbing the polish into the scales.

'Shark scales' he said simply as I thought about a shark. Sharks don't have scales.

'But sharks don't have scales…' I muttered as he grinned at me.

'You're the first to catch onto that. Its actually layers of hardened shark skin fashioned into scales with chakra' he explained as I nodded. Odd way to make a sword if there ever was one but then again I was sitting across from a 6 foot 9, 280 pound shark man. It fit him oddly enough as I sighed and noticed I really had to pee.

'I'll be right back' I announced and wandered into the trees. After my little break I headed to where I heard a little stream bubbling away as I washed my hands and face trying to get off all of the dirt from the dusty road. I heard a twig break as I looked up to see a very effeminate boy looking at me. He gave a slight incline of his head as I noticed his forehead protector announced he was from mist. Long way from home this boy was but I had no business with him. I gave a nod back as he came closer and washed his hands and face as well. He couldn't be older than twelve as I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. Immediately I was on my guard as I jumped back and pulled out a kunai to see a tall lean man with a massive cleaver slung across his back. His face was obscured with bandages as he watched me cautiously.

The boy was watching me curiously as well as I slowly lowered the kunai and put it back in my cloak.

'I didn't know women were in the Akatsuki' the man's voice reminded me of a rough landslide as I stood up straight.

'There are' I said simply as the large man shrugged. He looked at the boy as he looked back at me with large warm brown eyes.

'Are you a medic? Previously with Konoha?' he asked as I blinked. How did this kid know this? I nodded as he smiled brightly as something registered in the back of my mind at the sight of that smile.

'Do you know this kunoichi Haku?' the larger man took on a defensive stance as I readied for an attack at a moments notice. Where was that massive shark man when you needed him?

'Stand down Zabuza she's a medic not a fighter.' Haku's voice was like ice as the larger man stood down and stood back up to his full height. Haku turned to me and fixed large chocolate eyes on me. 'you probably wont remember me but you gave me an apple and fixed my right arm when it was broken about four years ago' he said as the memory popped up. I had been heading back to Konoha and had stopped into a village on the way to pick up some food and had found the urchin cradling his left arm that was bent at an awkward angle. I had felt bad because it had been a spiral fracture probably from someone throwing the boy as I gave him an apple and fixed it for him.

I never thought I'd be seeing that urchin again let alone now almost a young man and so well dressed and obviously cared for.

I felt the flare of chakra as suddenly a strong arm was around me as I was pulled against a chest and a black robe clad arm had a sword pointed straight out at Haku and Zabuza.

'Well, well, Kisame. I didn't know you were here.' Zabuza drawled as I felt Kisame stiffen.

'Zabuza. How's mist?' Kisame's voice was gruff as he set Samehada back onto his back as I looked at Haku who seemed amused but still polite while Zabuza watched us warily.

'Wouldn't know. We were run out' He growled as Haku shot his partner a calming look, Zabuza shifted his weight watching me like a predator. Kisame didn't say anything keeping his look fierce as I glanced up at him. I was really sore and my legs were getting wobbly as Zabuza shrugged.

'I suggest you leave' Kisame said icily as the duo took the hint.

'Nice seeing you again Kisame' Zabuza said with a nod as Kisame returned the gesture. Polite hostility. Now I knew why Kisame was such a polite person it obviously had to do with the people he had to deal with. The duo disappeared into the foliage without as sound as I felt two chakra flares before they winked out of existence completely.

'Are you alright?' the tone in Kisame's voice caught me off guard as I looked up sharply to look into slightly concerned golden eyes.

'I'm fine.' I said as he nodded and let me go reaching down to pick up my abandoned hat before handing it to me.

'How one woman can attract such trouble is beyond me' he muttered wandering off in the direction of camp. I waited before following behind him quietly. I really did have a knack for attracting unwanted attention lately it seemed.

The campsite seemed untouched as I resumed my spot on the log and Kisame against the log.

'We're going to do some training' he said simply as I looked up from the dirt under my sandals. I raised an eyebrow as a question as I grinned.

'Okay but on a condition' I said as Kisame glanced at me his expression asking me what I meant. 'we play questions. Every time I get something right I can ask you a question.' I said as Kisame seemed amused.

'what if you get something wrong?' he asked raising an eyebrow as I shrugged.

'then you can ask me a question' I said as he sighed and motioned for me to stand up. I did as told as he pointed into the shrubs.

'try to sneak up on me' he said as I stared at him. He wanted me to sneak up on him. Did he think I was a prodigy or something? He would seem me coming from a mile away! I stomped into the bushes and hid my chakra as I saw Kisame grin to himself. Slowly I moved as soundlessly as I could around the clearing hidden in the shrubs.

'You're going to have to do better than that' Kisame's voice was quiet as his eyes fixed exactly on my hiding place. Darn, I lost already. 'So Kasumi, do you have family in Konoha?' he asked rooting around in his cloak for something as I jumped into the trees.

'No I don't. I don't have any family' I said using my speed jutsu to clear the clearing in one jump. Kisame was still focusing on where I had been as I snuck around behind another shrub as I silently tossed a kunai as it pegged the tree beside his head. Immediately he turned golden eyes on me.

'Good, you're learning quickly.' He said as I nodded and moved.

'So Kisame have you ever had a significant other?' I asked as I moved as quickly and silently as I could. I didn't look at Kisame as I heard the sharp steel in his voice.

'You don't need to know that' he said as I glanced at him. He looked furious as I gulped.

'forget I asked then' I said quickly hiding as best I could as he focused on my hiding spot. I cursed again. Dammit, Kisame was too friggin' skilled as a ninja.

'What about yourself?'

'A significant other?'

Silence as I moved as quietly as I could. Obviously it was that question.

'No, I've lived in the military since I was a child'

'You've never had another person?'

'nope'

'really? I find that hard to believe'

'it's true' I hid myself on another branch as he fixed golden eyes on me again. Damn he was good!

'What is your favorite weapon?' Kisame of course would ask about weaponry. Men, one track minds honestly.

'I always thought Katanas were cool. Daggers are more practical for me though.' I said as Kisame nodded and I dropped out of the tree to land on his shoulders as he gave a grunt of irritation. Finally I won!

'Now, is your skin naturally blue?' I asked leaning over to look into Kisame's eyes as he looked up to meet mine. Harassing Kisame, I think I had found a new hobby as he gave me an annoyed look.

'It's part of my blood line limit of course it's natural.' He sounded extremely irritated as I grinned. That cleared up a few things. So it was genetic so if he ever had kids he'd have mini blue sharks running around.

Wow I must've been overtired to think of Mini Kisame's running around. I rested my arm on his head and stared at the fire as I could feel Kisame still trying to stare at me through his blue fringe.

'Are you going to get down anytime soon?' he asked as I shrugged and started to feel the effects of traveling and training this evening as I tried to fight how my eyelids wanted to close. He gave a chuckle as I felt him grab my forearms. I blinked as I was suddenly flipped forward into Kisame's lap. 'better' he grumbled as I felt heavy arms rest across my thighs with his hands in his lap. I blinked again. Random as it was I felt how warm he was and immediately my body relaxed. Damn traitorous body, I fought to stay awake as I watched the fire as my eyes slid closed.


	8. Forgotten ghosts

Kisame looked at the small woman in his lap. She really was a fiery little thing if she could keep up with him all day and do training after yesterday's beating from Itachi. He would have to keep his pace slowed for her until she recovered fully.

She had been past her breaking point hours ago he had noticed her limp and slight stagger after they had passed the last town about 4 miles back on the road to their little campsite. He was ready to keep going but he knew that if he pushed her too far she'd be utterly useless in a fight.

Not that she hadn't been this evening. He had been shockingly impressed when he had felt her chakra spike that she had that kid Zabuza and minion Haku anticipating her first move. A light snore made him look down as the stocky woman who had her face buried in his chest. Her hair looked crimson with flecks of amber in the firelight as a smirk slid onto his face. She really was a spit fire, there was no one who would willingly stand beside him and actually ask him to hurt others for her.

Kisame knew that Kasumi wasn't weak. She was naieve to most of the world but when it came to the harsh realities of life she knew them all.

Kisame might've looked odd and came off as irrational but he knew what was going on. He wasn't stupid and he didn't get to being in Akatsuki on brute strength although that helped greatly.

He leant back against the tree trunk and settled Kasumi in his lap so she was reclined against his chest as he too dozed off knowing daybreak was coming much too fast for his liking.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were up and on the road hours before I ever wanted to be awake in my life. The sun was just turning the sky grey when Kisame had woken me from where I was lying in the dirt with his cloak draped over me against the cold morning air as I noticed the camp had been cleaned and breakfast happened to be rations bars. We had trudged out onto the road as I was still in a haze of being half awake as my hat kept falling to far down and blocking my view of anything.

'how close are we to Konoha?' I mumbled trying to focus on walking straight. Kisame glanced over me as I tripped and caught myself as I tried my best to wake myself up. I was sore as hell too as my hip popped in protest at the quick movement.

'we're still a long way off. We're closer to the land of waves than Konoha.' Kisame stated as I sighed. We were a good four day walk from Konoha if we were that far away. I stifled a yawn as Kisame cut in front of me and blocked my path.

I looked up as he was staring at me with his arms out. What did he want? I raised an eyebrow as he sighed and grabbed me. I flailed as he tossed me over his shoulder and took off into the trees. I yelped and grabbed the back of his cloak as his arm wrapped around the back of my legs then moved up to my ass.

'you better let that go Kisame' I threatened as his hand dropped once again to the back to my knees as I watched trees zoom past rapidly. 'so… now how long?' I asked as I watched the trees pass away into hilly landscapes dotted with rocky outcrops.

'At this speed probably this evening' he said landing on an outcrop that overlooked the road as something reflected into my eye.

'Ow what was that!' the words were out of my mouth as Kisame turned around and I tried to look around as well. Sadly all I could see was a blank expanse of trees then the ocean as a thin blue line on the horizon.

'I don't sense anything what did you see?' Kisame asked gruffly as I felt his muscles tense as if anticipating an attack.

'A glint in my eyes like off of a weapon' I said as Kisame immediately moved into the cover of the trees.

'Looks as if the prey became the predators' Kisame mused as I pulled a kunai out of my shirt and kept a trained eye on the trees as Kisame made some crazy maneuvers through the trees as I fought to hold down my rations bar.

'What do you mean?' I whispered as Kisame made a sharp barrel roll to the right as I ducked against his back to avoid getting smacked by a tree bough. I didn't get an answer until I caught a glimpse of what he meant. For a second I saw a flash of silver and green flak vest as my mind registered.

Whatever Jounin was with Naruto was obviously tracking us wary of our movements.

'Split and meet me two miles west from here Kasumi' Kisame said as he released my legs and gave me a shove. For a minute I was airborne as I easily caught a tree limb, swung and headed back the way we came.

I felt for any chakra flares as Kisame's flared massively. He was obviously trying to lead the jounin away from me as I circled around to North West. I headed along for a few minutes at a fast pace as my adrenaline was pumping furiously. I rounded to due west as I came to a halt in a little clearing by a beautiful stream.

'AKATSUKI!' I heard the snarl as I turned to see three kids on their feet staring at me. Two were boys and one was a girl as I noticed an older man with them looking frightened. The girl was in front of the man with bubblegum pink hair as the two boys stood in front of her bravely brandishing weapons.

The one on the right I knew immediately without a doubt was from the Uchiha clan as he was glaring at me with the intent to kill me as my eyes fixed on the blonde boy.

Naruto.

He still looked the same as he did as a baby with shocking blonde hair and the scars on his cheeks from the fox as he was also crouched in an attack pose.

'Sasuke, Naruto!' the girl gasped as I flicked my eyes between the four of them. I wasn't going to do anything, but if I ran off I'd get hell not only from Kisame but from leader. My hand throbbed at the memory as I saw the Uchiha boy run at me.

'DAMN YOU!' he roared as I easily deflected his attacks. I had to admit he was quick but thanks to Itachi I was just that much faster as I saw Naruto run at me. I ducked a wild kick from Sasuke and ran at Naruto. The blonde's eyes widened for a fraction as I clasped my hands rapidly into the dragon seal as his eyes widened even more.

'Naruto!' the scream echoed in the forest as my mist jutsu consumed the glen. I stood away from the others watching through the fog as the three genin regrouped and waited for my attack.

Dammit Kisame where the hell were you?!

'Aren't you going to attack us?!' I heard the enraged yell as I looked through my chakra web to see Naruto's outline in the fog.

'I see no point in attacking genin even if my orders were to come after you Naruto' I said as I saw the three of them tense.

'why?!' he snapped as I smiled to myself. Even I didn't know the answer.

'why what?' I asked cattishly as I heard an irritated growl as I shifted my location rapidly. I knew the Uchiha was trying to pinpoint me for an attack.

'Why did you come after me?!' he asked as I changed location again. A thought came to me, the Akatsuki must need money to keep the organization going. I guessed some light pocket work was in order.

'Honestly I don't even know' I said as there was a laugh.

'you must be a pretty low ranking Akatsuki to not even know our mission' it was the Uchiha boy obviously trying to get me riled up. I was glad he was focusing on me as I deftly dropped beside Naruto and grabbed a small wallet from his pack before I disappeared again.

'Perhaps I'm not in the Akatsuki to be a fighter?' I hinted as I heard a female gasp. Ah so the girl was the brains in this group. I landed in a tree and grinned to myself. The Uchiha had talent but not much training and it seemed Naruto was a move before thinking type. Very much like his father in that sense.

I blocked off those memories as I watched.

'What is it sakura?!' Naruto asked as I smiled and moved again as I watched the Uchiha trying his hardest to track my movements. I secretly thanked Kisame for his training last night as painful as it was.

'We have to kill her. She's the Akatsuki medic!' she blurted as I smiled. Oh she was quick. Maybe I should play with their minds a bit. I created a series of mist clones and set them in the fog.

'You're smart Sakura. You catch on quickly that's a good talent for a medic' I said as I moved one of the clones silently in between the three of them. That was why I liked my mist clones. They had the same chakra signature as the fog and moved just as silently plus I could command them through the chakra net in the fog. It was like a giant checkers game.

'But you need to learn more' I heard the whisper as I attacked the pink girl. My one clone was silent as she stole their coin bags, ignoring the wallets as the clone returned to me with a wad of cash from the three genin. There was a grunt as I looked over to see someone I would've never suspected in a thousand years.

Kakashi Hatake.

He was blocking the kunai my clone held easily as the clone vanished in a wisp joining back into the fog.

'Kakashi-sensei!' Naruto yelled as I blinked. So Kakashi had become a teacher. Hot anger bubbled in my chest. Kakashi, my best friend, had become a teacher! The job I had wanted since I was a child but no. instead I was channeled and threatened into going into being a medic and the military.

Damn him. Damn everything he stood for. I stood on the branch still watching the scene yet hidden from direct view as I felt Kisame's massive chakra flare enter the area.

'Preying on children now? I think that's a bit low for anyone Itachi' Kakashi said as I gave a giggle. I watched him look around in surprise as I changed the acoustics in the fog.

'The Uchiha didn't come today, I came instead. You know Kakashi I didn't think of you as one to be a teacher. Besides what's the fun in life if you can't harass people once in a while?' I asked as all of them were now looking around in confusion as I saw the sharingan reel in Kakashi's left eye. Obito's gift, I remembered how that had pained him for years as I felt Kisame enter my fog. Dammit Kisame!

I dropped the jutsu immediately as Kisame took on a fighting stance. I hid in the trees and diminished my chakra completely as I heard Kakashi curse.

'she got away!' I heard Naruto gasp as Kakashi coughed.

'She was the least of our worries Naruto' Kakashi muttered as I saw the two men square off. ' I want you to take the bridge builder and run' he said as Naruto opened his mouth to protest. 'NOW' Kakashi commanded as Kisame laughed.

'It wont do you much good Hatake. My partner will pick them off one by one before they can get very far' he said. He was bluffing, but right now with that bloodlust rolling off of him I didn't want to argue with him at all or call him on it.

'maybe But if I take you down then I can hunt her down' he snarled as the duo ran at each other. I watched as the genin froze. They didn't want to run as I quickly lost track of Kakashi and Kisame's fight. They were moving so fast that it was hard for me to focus on them as I heard a grunt of pain from Kisame.

I looked over to see Kakashi had managed to hit Kisame with seven kunai littered across his right arm and shoulder. They looked deep too as I heard a cheer go up from the genin. I really should shut them up as Kisame threw Kakashi like a rag doll into a tree.

Kisame got up as I noticed the liquid running off of the kunai. Poison. This was getting dangerous as I saw Naruto and Sasuke run toward Kisame. I darted out keeping an eye on Kakashi and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his orange jumpsuit and threw him with a burst of chakra into the trees as Sasuke dodged my first attempt as I tripped him and grabbed the back of his pants and shirt and tossed him with Naruto. I turned to noticed Kakashi was up again.

I darted back into the trees as I noticed Kisame's reaction time had been greatly impaired and he was having trouble holding Samehada. The poison must've been attacking his nervous system as he let out a roar that had the leaves on the tree shaking.

Kakashi ran at him as the battle continued until Kisame fell to one knee panting. This couldn't go on much longer. Kisame had a great amount of chakra and power but poison went above any of that.

'well Kisame Hoshigaki, Looks like you end here' Kakashi looked horrid as he was also fighting to stand as he held a massive shuriken at his side. Shit! I grabbed a thick branch and ran for the spot between Kakashi and Kisame as Kakashi brought the shuriken up to throw it.

'Not. Quite' I bit out as I noticed my hat tumble off my head as I brought the bough to block Kakashi's shuriken as the metal bit deep into the thick branch. Kakashi's eyes widened a fraction as all of his breath seemed to leave him.

'Kasumi?' he breathed as I gauged his surprise. 'but… you're dead!' he gasped as I grinned.

'seems not' I whispered as I heard Kisame grunt and try to stand behind me. Stupid man, his pride would be the death of him. 'You see Kisame and the other Akatsuki were kind enough to take me on as… an equal. I'm not a pawn to them like I was in Konoha Kakashi.' I said anger tainting my tone as he was still searching my eyes as if asking why and how.

'then why didn't you come back to Konoha?! Are you being held prisoner?!' he snapped as I shook my head.

'No Kakashi you don't get it.' I spat 'I was threatened and forced into a job I hated with every fiber of my being. I was a medic in the military when I wanted to be a teacher Kakashi. You don't know what I've seen there Kakashi. You don't know what I had to do to modify myself to deal with that job. They forced me upon penalty of death into that hell hole and what do I find when I get out? Hm? That you have the job I always wanted Kakashi.' I smiled as him as he suddenly seemed so defeated and incredibly upset. 'I joined the Akatsuki of my own free will. They're more of a family and a home than Konoha ever was' I explained as I heard footsteps behind me.

'but how could you go against everyone you love?!' Naruto screamed as I smiled sadly.

'because there was no one left that I loved. Naruto. They all forgot me, left me to rot in my own personal hell' I said sadly as I looked into Kakashi's eyes. Obito's eye was crying as I gave Kakashi a bittersweet smile.

'Kasumi please, come back to Konoha. I could pull some strings and you could be a teacher' he nearly sounded like he was pleading with me as I dropped my arms letting the branch and shuriken fall to the ground.

'no Kakashi' I turned away from the jounin as I went to stand beside Kisame picking up my hat along the way. 'The damage has been done, Konoha is now my enemy, they pushed me too far and I found my place here with the Akatsuki.' I saw Naruto and Sasuke stand and wait for the signal to rush us.

I knew Kisame was in incredible pain and it would take me some time to extract that poison from his system.

'Kasumi…' Kakashi watched me with an air of hopelessness as I stood beside Kisame being dwarfed by the monster of a man.

'Pretend this never happened Kakashi. I am dead, Kisame never came here, and I have never seen Naruto other than that day many, many years ago.' I said as I looped my arm with Kisame's and we vanished in a puff of smoke.

I transported us back to the ledge were Kisame's legs gave out as soon as we landed. I tried my best to catch him as he ended up crushing me underneath him.

'Hey Kisame, can you hear me?' I asked as I heard a grunt and he moved enough so that I could crawl out from under him before he collapsed forward into my lap. I pushed back a wave of panic as I managed to get him lying on his back. Moving Kisame was a problem in itself as I checked his pulse and temperature. His pulse was sluggish at best and his temperature was much higher than normal. Immediately I went into medic mode as the world around me shut down. I recalled the textbook as images flashed up in my mind as I first checked the Kunai pulling the shallowest one from his shoulder. There was no way he could feel this in his comatose state as I opened my backpack and removed testing kits and a poison kit. I quickly tested the residue and waited for the results as I stripped Kisame's cloak, shirt, and mesh shirt off of his body. Black bruises were forming on his light blue skin as I checked the test kit.

Belladonna. I knew it. Quickly I pulled out the Kunai and wadded gauze against the deep gashes to staunch the bleeding as I quickly did the math for the correct dosage for Kisame's body weight. I had to use two vials of antidote for Kisame's body weight as I injected the clear fluid into one of his prominent veins.

Quickly I moved to clean the now weeping wounds with rubbing alcohol and put salve on them. A few I had to stitch closed as I pushed in chakra to heal the worst of the cuts. I double checked his pulse and temperature. His temperature had increased and his blood pressure was nearly non-existent. I hadn't caught the toxin in time even with the antidote working it wasn't working fast enough.

I cursed and put my hands into a ram seal as I focused deep down into the ground. Slowly but surely I watched as water started to pool in little pockets all over the cliff face as I moved them to collect in a divit beside my leg. Immediately I pulled the water into a ball and set it against his chest. I spread my chakra into a thin based and spread it through Kisame's body tracking all of the little pieces of the toxin. The concentration of this toxin had been immense as I replaced the toxin with the water I had collected.

It was grueling work as I felt my arms start to get shaky and sweat break out on my upper lip as I felt even my chakra supply slowly but surely drifting out. I continued working on reviving Kisame as I noticed he had turned a darker shade of blue that was definitely unhealthy for him.

'Don't you dare die on me you stupid shark' I spat as I pulled more of the toxin from his body. I must've been there for over four hours pulling the toxin from his body and let the antidote help me with repairing the damage done. I healed as I went one hand pulling out the toxin and replacing it with water as the other pushed chakra into his body to heal the deteriorated tissue that the belladonna had caused.

'Ka-su…mi' Kisame grunted as I looked up to see golden eyes watching me intently. He shouldn't be conscious! My focus was broken as I quickly removed my hand with the toxins to the waste water area as my body felt incredibly heavy. Shit, I might have of over done it.

I looked over to where he was watching me as I grabbed some strong painkillers and a canteen from my bag.

'Here take these. It'll dull the worst of the pain' I estimated with his size and weight again as he quickly downed the medicine. I was so stiff and heavy, I felt like I had been beaten severely as I sat back and rolled my shoulders trying to alleviate the stiffness.

'Hey, are you alright?' Kisame's baritone was raspy as he coughed and took another swing from the canteen. I gave a jerky nod before a wave of nausea overtook me. I put my head on my knees as I fought back the urge to vomit. Healing tissue was so much more simple than tracking down toxins and healing the tissue it had damaged along the way at a cellular level. Although I was glad that Kisame was well enough to be sitting and talking so quickly.

I sat there staring at Kisame as he stared right back at me golden eyes slightly foggy through the medicine and pain he was in. I wish he hadn't been such a large guy then my chakra would've gone further. I cursed Kakashi and Konoha for their love of belladonna as a toxin it really was a very destructive but effective poison.

'Are you in much pain?' I asked my breathing coming in pants as I felt shaky and my eyes kept un-focusing. He shook his head but lay back down with a hiss as he gripped his shoulder. Some of those gashes had been deep even when I had healed them his body still had to do most of the healing to not become dependent on chakra and utterly useless to biological processes. I looked at the sky and realized how much time had passed since the fight. It was late afternoon now and it had been late morning when Kisame had first tracked Kakashi. No wonder I was exhausted as movement caught my eye. Kisame was trying to stand using Samehada as a crutch as I slowly stood.

'Kisame don't move you'll only aggravate the wounds' I commanded as he was now on his feet. I put my hands on my hips glaring at him as he gave me an overconfident smirk. I tried my best to look intimidating as I felt my legs shaking from fatigue. Damn, I wasn't going to get very far looking like a scared leaf.

'I've had worse than this, come on we better report back to leader the new…development that Naruto kid has following him around.' Kisame said as he put samehada back onto his shoulders. I stared at him, this man was incredible, not an hour ago he was almost dead and now he was acting as if he'd just received a paper cut.

Incredible. The Akatsuki really were people of magnificent talent and determination especially Kisame if he could bounce back this readily. Maybe it had something to do with his bloodline limit? I sighed and repacked my medical bag as Kisame redressed himself and frowned at the rips in his cloak.

'well, another one for Kakuzu to sew' he sighed and pulled the battered article on. I put my own cloak back on as I realized it was soaked in belladonna and water as I berated my own stupidity.

'dammit, I cant even focus enough not to kill my clothing' I muttered and wrung out the cloak to the best of my ability. I put the now damp cloak back on as I turned to see Kisame watching me in amusement. Well at least I was good for comical relief if nothing else. I walked over to where he was and stood beside him waiting for his command, he knew his way around the five great ninja nations, I definitely didn't.

There was a pause before Kisame put his hand on my shoulder and I felt a pulse of chakra run through my body as I immediately went as stiff as a board before he pulled his hand away. Slowly all of the water in my cloak followed his fingers being pulled on little whisps of chakra as they joined into a swirling ball in his hand before he tossed it over his shoulder and it exploded into a fine rain. I blinked. He had just dried my clothing for me with a quite advanced chakra technique. Kisame I knew was an advanced ninja to be in Akatsuki but… that technique. Skill, and concentration level had to be at an all time high to be able to manipulate an element that well and he did it with such ease.

I was way out of my league here in the akatsuki if Kisame wasn't one of the strongest Akatsuki. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what itachi could do if I made him angry enough.

Kisame had started to walk away as I quickly jogged to catch up. He may have of been wounded but he was much stronger than I would ever be. A wound like that would put me out of commission for at least two or three days before I could heal myself enough to be able to stand let alone walk any distance.

I wondered at the sudden change in kisame. He was exceedingly quiet as I saw him rub his wounded shoulder a few times as we walked.

'what toxin was on those kunai?' Kisame's voice made me jump in the still evening air as I looked at him. We had lost our hats so it was easy to see his face as he kept it schooled as usual.

'belladonna' I looked ahead to another little shrine where two women were placing fresh fruits and incense and saying prayers.

'hm, Konoha is fond of belladonna. Itachi warned me about that.' Kisame mused as I glared at him. Nice how they neglected to tell the medic some VITAL information that probably could've allowed me to save some of my chakra in case we were ambushed.

'Thanks Kisame' I smiled as he gave me a smirk and started walking ahead. I followed alongside as I wondered how far we would get with the condition he was in. I had honestly underestimated Kisame as I reflected on the fight Kisame was so… wild. He could become nearly animalistic when it came to his fighting but after that he reverted back to his reserved polite self. It threw me through a loop honestly as I saw him rub his wounded shoulder again. I slapped his large hands away from the area as he gave me an annoyed glare.

'Do you want that to scar or become infected?' I asked as he gave a grunt of a reply and dropped his hand. Honestly, I had just saved him from becoming worm food and he was aggravating his wounds. We didn't say anything as I had to take two steps to one of his strides as I suddenly remembered the wad of cash I had stolen from the genin.

'Hey Kisame are there any hot springs nearby?' I asked as he gave me an odd look.

'There are a few a few miles from here but we don't have the money to go there' he mumbled almost sullenly as I pulled out the wad of cash and waved it in his face. His eyebrows shot up as I grinned and pocketed the money. 'How did you-?' he cut off as he laughed and shook his head.

'What? I thought a little extra money wouldn't go astray plus they were genin. It was really quite easy' I said as Kisame was still laughing nearly doubled over. Kisame had a rather nice laugh as it reminded me of rapid or moving water. He stood up and brushed what I thought might've been tears from his eyes as he looked at me.

'I never thought I'd see a medic pilfering money from a genin' he grinned as I laughed at the thought of it too. Stealing money from genin was like stealing grass from a lawn. I was so badass. We settled into a comfortable silence as I noticed a town coming up and Kisame's pace slowed until we were walking at a pretty even pace.

'so do you know of any hot springs in this area?' I asked as Kisame gave a nod.

'This place is known for its hot springs. All of fire country has hot springs littered throughout it. Makes it rather convenient for traveling through' he laughed as I smiled. I guess it was nice to be able to stop in and relax. I thought for a minute. The Akatsuki at a hot spring. For that to happen everyone in the building at the time would have to be murdered to keep from spilling the fact that they were Akatsuki.

we approached the outer houses as Kisame suddenly tugged me into the trees. I hopped on one foot trying not to fall as large hands steadied me.

'take off your cloak and put on something less noticeable' he said as he stripped off the cloak as I saw him wince and hiss as he brushed his injured shoulder. A soak in a hot spring would help that as I stacked my cloak and pulled on the hoodie Deidara had given me.

Kisame was wearing a rather beaten looking flak jacket as he sighed and stretched. The jacket was definitely too small for him as it didn't quite reach to his wrists nor would it close over his broad chest. I guessed we were going as inconspicuous as we headed into the town. The hot spring was on the far side as people waved and smiled at us as we passed. Most of them cringed at the sight of Kisame or pointed and whispered or stared. It made me quite angry as I took a sidestep closer to the large shark ninja I didn't know why I was being protective of the man as this only made more eyebrows rise and whispering worsen.

I looked at Kisame as he just kept walking with his head up acting as if nothing were out of the ordinary. I guess I had become accustomed to Kisame's fearsome and animalistic face in the time I had been with the Akatsuki. To tell the truth I hardly noticed the blue skin or gills anymore, sure they were there but they were as apparent to me as they had been. Even in the few days I had been around him his overall appearance became less and less significant to me. He just was… Kisame really. I guess I was focusing more on his personality the real who he was not his outward appearance.

I really was thinking too deeply lately.


	9. Dont you die on me!

I stretched and smiled as my shoulders popped relieving some of the built up tension from sitting and healing Kisame for so long. I would need a decent amount of rest to recover the chakra I had depleted on him as I saw the telltale flag of a bathhouse sticking out amongst the trees on the other side of the village.

I looked at the wad of money in my hand. It could easily cover two separate rooms for nearly a week but why waste it? I mean if the Akatsuki was short on money then any little bit we could save would help right? I looked up at Kisame, he was too well mannered to ever suggest I would share a room with him when others were around. I was pretty sure everyone back at the hideout thought I slept on his couch not in his bed beside him.

We stepped through the threshold of the hot spring when I went into deceptive mode and grinned like an idiot looking my arm through Kisame's and giggling as I slid my ring onto my ring finger. It burned like no tomorrow but I hid the pain as Kisame gave me a bewildered look.

'play along' I hissed as he blinked and I half dragged him to where a pretty middle aged woman was standing behind a counter. She went pale at the sight of Kisame but immediately brightened at the sight of me as I gave her one of my best grins. Maybe hanging out with Deidara was paying off as she gave me a polite smile.

'Good evening, can I help you?' she addressed me as I felt Kisame stiffen. Yes it was rude but then again, he was intimidating as I gave him arm a squeeze to try to get him to relax.

'yes we would like a room for three days please' I grinned as the older woman surveyed us with a crucial eye. I gasped and flapped my hand forcing myself to blush as Kisame was now staring at my nearly open mouthed at my antics. 'Oh no don't worry, we're newly weds. We're stopping for a short reprive before heading to mist to visit my husbands wonderful parents' I grinned giggling like an idiot as the woman relaxed a bit. I flashed my ring as all that was seen was a band of silver because I had rotated it so the Sora symbol was in my hand. A large grin split the woman's face as I hugged Kisame's arm to my chest. It seemed he had caught on, I could tell he did NOT like this idea one bit but was being fair enough to play along.

The woman smiled at me as I gave another giggle.

'then let me show you to you room. Congratulations on your new marriage miss-?' she waited as I thought, quickly, quickly!

'Hoshigaki' Kisame answered as I glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow. The woman smiled and nodded clearly still intimidated by Kisame as she led us to our room.

She announced that our supper would be brought to the room in roughly 2 hours before she left us alone. It was a pretty standard room with one large queen bed, a bath room, a living room with a TV, couch, and small table.

I strode across the room and opened the curtains to a little cheery bonsai garden that ran on the inner ring of the Inn. The leaves on the sakura trees were a bright green and the cherries were bright red and nearly ready to be picked as I saw koi swimming in a pond and a little rock garden on the far side with a little stone bridge that ran over the koi pond.

I left the curtain open and tossed my bag onto the couch and took off my sweater. It was warm and a little stuffy in the room as I opened the sliding glass door and let the warm evening air filter in. I heard Kisame shifting around in the bedroom as I flopped onto the couch and kicked off my sandals. I was so damn tired.

'hey, I'm going for a bath are you coming?' Kisame's voice pulled me back from my dozing as I looked up at him. He was wearing a bath robe as I nodded and staggered my way into the bedroom as I stripped and changed into a really fluffy bathrobe as I noticed Kisame had already left. I glanced around and noticed that he had taken Samehada with him. I didn't blame the guy I had a few kunai stashed in my hair band as I grabbed a headband out of my backpack to keep my hair out of the water.

I stuck my head out of my room as I realized. I had no idea where the hell I was going, I had never been to a hot spring, I had just always thought it would be cool to go to one. Well I would probably find a sign sooner or later as I took a left away from the lobby and plodded along down the hall. The inn was quiet as I took a right at the end of a hallway and noticed a sign that read women's baths with an arrow pointing to a door to my left. I shrugged and pushed the door open. Inside it was warmer but oddly completely vacant as I placed my bathrobe in a basket and took the towel wrapping it around me as I stepped out of the change area and into the hot spring.

It was vacant as I wondered how any hot spring would be vacant as I took off my towel and left it at the edge of the spring and stepped into the water. It was blissfully warm as I sunk up to my neck in the murky water. Oh it really was wonderful as I put my head back and sighed relaxing in the hot water. I closed my eyes and listened to the evening sounds as birds chirped, a small waterfall bubbled somewhere to my right as I heard the scurrying of squirrels in the cherry tree to my right above the waterfall.

Suddenly the sliding door to the change room opened with a clack as I was immediately on red alert. Glancing to my left I saw two figures, one I guessed around five feet and the other about five foot right or nine as the duo became apparent through the fog.

A young girl with violet hair and large pale lavender eyes and an old friend of mine Kurenai; I doubted she would recognize me after all of the years. We had been childhood friends and after the academy rare saw each other. Obviously she had made it to jounin and teacher status. I fought back the wave or resentment and acidic hatred that bubbled up as the violet haired girl caught sight of me and blushed crimson.

'k-kurenai-s-sensei, I-I-I think I'll g-g-o b-b-back to your r-r-oom' she stammered as I sighed. Poor girl was shy as I leant back and closed my eyes letting myself relax and ignoring the duo.

Suddenly I was worried about Kisame. That meant that the other two people on the team would be boys. I hoped they wouldn't recognize Kisame as an Akatsuki member, but then again they probably had never seen an Akatsuki member in their short little lives let alone could identify one.

I heard twin splashes as I assumed the duo climbed into the hot spring.

'See Hinata, I told you this would be relaxing' Kurenai's alto voice reached my ears as I didn't heard anything from Hinata. I opened my eyes and looked through the fog that was on the top of the spring as I met pale lavender eyes. Immediately she looked away as Kurenai noticed me and frowned. I knew she recognized me from somewhere but she obviously couldn't place where I was from. I would have to act and fast if I didn't want to be discovered.

'Well, good evening Kurenai. I haven't seen you since the last festival, I see you and your team are doing well!' I guessed as immediately Kurenai brightened. Obviously the festival cover had been a good one as Hinata looked between me and her teacher.

'Oh they're doing well. Getting stronger everyday. What about yourself how goes making Ramen?' she asked as I nearly burst into laughter ramen. Right. I knew how to make ramen alright.

'Actually I've switched to become a smith. I now make shuriken and weapons' I explained as Kurenai nodded. I was shocked at how easy it was to lie through my teeth at people. I wasn't as believable as Deidara but it seemed that I was a good enough actor that people could follow and believe my story.

'is that what happened to your eye I don't remember seeing that last time we met' Kurenai mentioned as I ducked my head. Maybe in a past life I was an actor or something as I looked over at the two of them Hinata was staring with wide eyes as I gave a small smile.

'yes it was an unfortunate accident. I was working in the smithy and apiece of metal flew off and struck my eye.' I said as Kurenai gave me a look of sympathy.

'that's terrible. I'm glad you're alright' she said as I smiled and waved my hand at her.

'Oh don't worry about it its healed and I can still see out of my eye so all I have really is the scar' I smiled as Kurenai nodded. We lapsed into silence as I heard Kisame's distinct baritone talking to some higher pitched voices.

'so how did you get ripped like that?!' it was distinct bark as I saw Kurenai and Hinata talking to one another in hushed voices as I leant back and closed my eyes again listening to the conversation in the men's spring.

'Years of training' he said as I heard water shifting.

'why are you here?' this voice was quieter and direct as I heard Kisame laugh.

'I'm here with my wife. We're heading to Konoha to see her family' he said quietly as I heard a louder splash.

'We're from Konoha who is her family?!' the bark was back as I heard a snort and another splash.

'Sit down you idiot no one wants to see your dong' the quieter voice said as I covered a snicker as Kisame laughed outright.

'her family live outside of Konoha as farmers' he said as it went quiet again. I sighed and relaxed even more than I thought possible as I reflected on how many lies Kisame and I had told to other people just within two hours. I guessed being part of the 'bad guys' you really did have to lie, cheat, and steal. They really didn't make it easy for us, we just wanted to relax and if they knew we were Akatsuki we'd be dead four times over. Maybe we should've just murdered everyone in the Inn before relaxing. That could've worked. Wasn't the best moral solution but it did work well in the end.

It wasn't long before I was nearly falling asleep. Time to go back to the room and recuperate and eat. I climbed out of the spring and wrapped my towel around me as I waved goodbye to Kurenai and Hinata. I assumed they were only staying for one night as I put my bathrobe back on and padded back to the room.

I opened the door to find a really nice meal set out on the little table as I smiled and moved into the bedroom where I changed back into the hoodie and a pair of soft pants before padding quietly back to the main room.

Kisame still wasn't back yet as I looked at the miso soup, sushi, and ginger stir fry that has been left for us. I really was hungry as I sighed and went over to the little sliding glass doors that looked out onto the bonsai garden.

There was a soft breeze as it brought the scent of fire countries massive forests to me. Moss, fresh air, and water mixed with the smell of august. It made me feel relaxed as I untied my hair and let it tumble down my back in its usual sheet of white. The ends were no longer stained as they had been every day when I was in the military it was a nice changed just seeing my hair white not tinged red or pink from blood.

I ran a hand through the freed strands and combed out some of the tangles from having it up on my head in the spring. I wondered what was taking Kisame so long, even thought I had to admit I would've loved to stay longer but my fatigue was getting the best of me.

I sighed and took my place once again on the couch sliding the door closed behind me as I closed my eyes. I wasn't going to let myself fall asleep but sadly, my body had other opinions. I didn't know how long I was asleep before I felt a hand gently shaking me as I opened my eyes to the low light of a single lamp and a blue hand with purple nail polish.

'Hun?' I sat up as Kisame shoved a bowl of stir fry under my nose. My mouth watered at the scent as I took the bowl from him and wolfed down the first bowlful. I must've been asleep for a while as I noticed that the sun had gone down and Kisame had changed into his usual uniform minus the cloak.

'Do you want more?' he asked as I nodded and he refilled my bowl and was halfway through that before he sighed and flopped down into the large armchair across from me. I looked up as he was staring up at the ceiling.

'Fuck my arm hurts' he mumbled rubbing his sore shoulder as I set my bowl down on the arm of the chair and walked over to where he was sitting. He looked up to me as I gently started to unwind the bandage on his upper arm as I realized he would have to take off his shirt for me to double check the bandage.

'Take off you shirt' I stated as amber eyes met mine with amusement as I registered what I had said. 'Please' I blurted to try to make up for the command as Kisame snickered and pulled his shirt over his head. I swore my face was the colour of a tomato as I finished unwinding the dirty bandages and pitched them into the little garbage can beside the couch. Kisame was resting his arms on his knees as I looked over the cuts. They were a light purple colour which meant inflammation and the starting of an infection. I had probably screwed up from my lack of chakra and mounting exhaustion at the time and had probably trapped some of the poison in there.

'Fuck, I'm a tool' I muttered and went and took an empty rice bowl and filled it with water from the bathroom sink.

'why are you a tool?' Kisame's baritone was even as I dug around in my pack for some medication. I reentered the room as Kisame was standing right in front of the door as I crashed straight into his chest. Needless to say running into Kisame is like running into a brick wall as I started to fall backward. I waited to hit the ground as I heard a splash and a thud as I cracked open an eye to see two very large amber eyes staring into mine as I realized how close Kisame's face was to mine.

Kisame caught me. He had managed to loop his arm around the small of my back and catch my bag as I felt water drip onto my chest as I looked up from his eyes to see that he had caught the bowl with his head. More so, the bowl had flipped up side down and was now resting on his head like a porcelain helmet.

'Wow, Kasumi. Falling for me already?' he cracked the terrible joke as I burst out laughing. It took a second before I felt his low rumbling laugh as he stood and put me back on my feet. I looked up at him as he grinned and took the bowl off of his head shaking his wet hair like a dog as it splattered on my face.

'Kisame!' I complained as he laughed and I snatched the bowl from his hand and returned to the bathroom to fill it up. 'go sit down before I beat you with this bowl' I laughed as I heard him scoff and the chair springs groan under his weight as he sat down again. I came back and set the bowl down onto his lap as I pulled the water into a ball and set it against his shoulder.

'this will probably sting a bit' I warned as he nodded and I started pulling the tiny bits of infection out of his shoulder. He gave a grunt as I pulled the first bit out then moved to the second and so on. My already low reserves were being strained as I worked focusing intently on his shoulder. I was starting to waver as I took a break and took up eating my bowl of stir fry again.

'Hey are you alright?' Kisame asked as I nodded and polished off the last of my now cold food. I could feel the little bit of chakra seep into my reserves from the food as I stood again and went back to his shoulder. I place a hand near the bowl as his larger hand grabbed mine. I looked at him as he gave me a sharp look. 'You're tired, stop. I'll live if you don't fix me completely tonight alright?' he said as I nodded and a wave of vertigo hit me as I groaned. My legs buckled as I tried to calm the spinning room but failed miserably as I heard a crash and Kisame caught me for a second time. It was really awkward too as he had had to catch me and ended up more so groping me.

'Hey woah there Kasumi' he said as I nodded and tried to stand as I managed to get to my feet and failed miserably ending up crashing backward into Kisame's chest. 'you're going to hurt yourself.' He chuckled as I felt him lift me off the ground with one arm. I gave up honestly, I knew my body was not going to cooperate with how tired and chakra depleted I was. I heard him sigh as he shifted me so he was carrying me bridal style and set me down on the bed.

'now, sleep. You're useless not only to the Akatsuki but to keep yourself alive if you let yourself run this low' he scolded as I honestly didn't care. Water under the bridge at this point as I was already half asleep. I heard him chuckle before I fell asleep once again.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame rolled his now functional shoulder as he watched kasumi in her nearly comatose sleep. She really had pushed herself after he had slipped up and had been hit with those kunai. Itachi would berate him to no end if he knew. Kisame sighed, as much as he and his partner were friends, god, he wanted to punch that smug little asshole some days.

He traced the rapidly disappearing scars on his shoulder as he remembered her soft smooth hands gently resting on his skin as she worked. Sure it had been painful and after the fight with Kakashi he honestly hadn't been too sure if he would've pulled through that. it had been weird, he had been close to death many times in his lifetime but this time it had been different. He had been…. Anxious almost scared as he remembered seeing Kasumi darting out of the trees and blocking the copycat's shuriken with a branch. Kasumi had a good head on her shoulders that was for sure as she rolled over and muttered something in her sleep.

He sighed and rolled his shoulders. Today had been a long day he realized and having to deal with those two prepubescent tools in the hot spring really hadn't allowed him to relax at all. Stupid Konoha genins. Samehada clacked restlessly beside the bed as he ignored it. Honestly he was debating sleeping on the couch, Kasumi really did need sleep after that attack and spending so much time trying to heal him.

He had been utterly surprised when he had come back to her sprawled snoring on the couch. She hadn't even responded after he'd slammed the door or cursed after he had caught his shin on the table. Honestly, he knew that she had spent a great deal of time healing but he hadn't realized the great strain she had put nor the amount of chakra she had used.

He must've been closer to death than he had originally thought. Absently he traced a hand over the few bandages she had put back on his shoulder over the deeper wounds. He was thankful to Kasumi, thought he would never admit it to the small woman. He leant on the doorframe of the small room as he watched her for a moment. She was dwarfed by the large bed as she rolled again pulling one of the large pillows against her chest and hugging it. Kisame laughed quietly to himself, he had never even thought about the concept of having a friend. Itachi was probably as close as he'd ever had to a friend per say and honestly they were friends. They got along, understood one another and even just talked about whatever. It was honestly more than he could say for anyone else in his life.

But Kasumi was different. She was a spitfire and wasn't afraid to speak her mind to him. It made him want to talk to her just to see her nose scrunch when she was angry or raise one eyebrow when she was amused.

Kasumi, that crazy young woman, she really was changing him it seemed. It was odd. He actually…felt things now. Emotions nearly and something that he had completely forgotten.

Fear.

That realization shocked him as he remembered separating from her in the forest. Honestly he had felt like his gut had dropped out of him when he had realized that Kakashi had turned around and headed west away from him. At that moment nearly a hundred different visions of Kasumi with her long white hair and maroon eyes stained red and soulless. That had terrified him, it had been such a foreign feeling it had brought out his rage in frustration at trying to pinpoint the feeling.

Stupid move on his part really, but he had enjoyed the fight eve with his stupid slip up. He rubbed his eyes, he really was tired, he had tried his hardest not to let Kasumi see it but it had been harder than he originally thought. Honestly he was exhausted as he went to head to the couch as a small strangled yelp came from the bed. Kisame sighed, she was having another nightmare. No matter what it seemed that Kasumi was doomed to having nightmares if she was left by herself.

Crossing the room he gently tugged the pillow out of her arms as she flailed and her hands found his forearms as she gripped them painfully leaving crescents from her nails. Damn, for someone so small she was pretty strong.

She whimpered and thrashed as if trying to get away from someone as he gently rubbed her shoulders.

'No, no, get away.' She fought as Kisame sighed and gently pulled her to him in a hug. At first she struggled but soon she relaxed as he gently rubbed her shoulders. Honestly it no longer felt awkward to him to comfort a sleeping person. On more than one occasion Itachi had woken him from a dead sleep having nightmares where he was screaming his head off.

Kasumi settled down as she buried her face into his chest and went back to sleep. Kisame settled down beside her lying on his back as she slept on draped over his chest. As much as he knew he should leave her to sleep on her own he didn't want to move. Kasumi was so warm and her sleeping so innocently made some long forgotten emotion well up in his chest. Gently he reached out and brushed her hair back from her face as she slept on.

Kasumi was one of a kind and maybe, just maybe they could be friends. He had never had a connection other than as a partner to Itachi but he'd damn well try to do his best to be a friend to Kasumi.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	10. Kasumi, RUN!

I woke up feeling warm but still tired. I hated that left over weak and tired feeling that always seemed to linger after I had used too much chakra.

Rolling over I noticed I really had to pee but I also was too tired and very comfortable in the fluffy king sized bed. I lay there as the sunlight filtered through the slats in the window as my bladder protested until I knew I had to go otherwise I'd pee myself.

Hauling myself off the bed I staggered half awake wanting to just sleep as I entered into the bathroom dropped my pants and sat on the toilet. I nearly fell asleep on the toilet as a distinct sound caught my attention as I opened my eyes and looked to my right.

There in all of his wet naked glory was Kisame as he shoved back the shower curtain. I sat there for a moment as our eyes locked. I felt my face break out into a blush as Kisame went a nice purple colour before grabbing the shower curtain to cover himself.

'SORRY!' I yelped and threw him a towel that he caught deftly with one hand as he booked it out the bathroom door. The door slammed behind him as I thought my blush would never die. I had just seen Kisame naked, oh dear lord this was going to be awkward. I finished up in the bathroom as the image of Kisame kept playing and replaying in my mind. Oddly enough his dark blue hair seemed to be a common trait as I bashed my head off of the tiled wall to get the image out.

BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!!!!

I opened the bathroom door to see Kisame fully dressed and sitting with his back to me at the little table. I swallowed my awkwardness and crossed the room to sit across from him still in my huge sweater that came to my thighs and underwear.

He was eating and didn't look up as I noticed that his features were once again schooled flawlessly into a bored expression. Even his eyes were guarded as I noticed a faint purple blush still in his cheeks as I looked at the table. I better apologize otherwise things would continually be awkward for the rest of the trip and maybe forever.

'I'm sorry I should've knocked first' I breathed as I didn't look up as I heard his rice bowl sit down with a dull clunk. A heavy silence followed as I flinched. Kisame must've been really pissed as I heard a bowl slide across the table as a blue hand and a full rice bowl appeared in my vision. I looked up as he slid a plate of peaches and fish toward me.

Our eyes met as I just stared at him. He was being nice again, I had expected him to try to cleave my head from my shoulders but no he was just sitting there calmly.

'You're half asleep don't worry about it' he brushed the topic off as he stood and wrapped his cloak around himself. 'I'll be back later, sleep a bit alright?' he said as I nodded and he was gone. Kisame was a strange man, but then again I respected his own need of privacy, I knew I liked mine. I picked at my food eating because I knew I had to try to rebuild my chakra as I looked at the bed. It seemed fluffier and more inviting than ever as I ate the peaches and picked at the rice. I really wasn't hungry. I felt rather awkward and had an odd feeling of being watched as I headed back to bed.

I lay there surrounded in the warmth and comfort. I actually missed Kisame's warmth and his presence as I rolled onto my side. I had become so accustomed to him just being there that sleeping without him around felt strange.

I drifted in and out of sleep never sleeping solidly as everything seemed to pass by me in a haze where I wasn't sure what was reality and what was a dream. As I really woke up a few hours later to the sound of familiar heavy footsteps and the shoji door being closed quietly.

It was odd how those heavy footsteps seemed so common place now as I sat up and tried to rub the little sleep I had from my eyes.

'Did I wake you?' Kisame's voice was gruff but soft as I noticed he carried a few black bags in his hands. I shook my head as he set them in a corner of the room and stood to face me. The memory of this morning rushed back as I fought down the blush. Kisame seemed more distant as he tossed my backpack at me.

'why do I need to get dressed?' I asked as a large grin split his face. Now I was curious, why was Kisame so happy about?

'We're going out. You need a good lesson in socialization' he grunted as I glared at him. He just laughed as I stood and marched to the bathroom making sure to lock the door behind me unlike Kisame had this morning. I changed into my red hoodie and navy shorts and showered before attempting to comb through my hopelessly tangled white hair. It took me a solid 20 minutes to tame the tangles before I tied half of it up and left a few pieces to frame my face.

I stared at myself in the mirror, I didn't look like I had when I came to the Akatsuki. My hair was a little longer and I didn't look so gaunt and my eyes were less of a flat maroon and more the colour of a dark burgundy. I just looked healthier in general as I smiled to myself and traced the scar across my face.

I had accepted years ago that I would never be pretty. I never had great self confidence and my body hadn't helped that. I was short and round, very round compaired to any of the other kunoichi, not to mention my wonderfully disfiguring scar.

I scowled as there was a knock on the door.

'You alright? You've been in there for almost an hour' Kisame's voice was still masked as I pulled the door open to see him standing there quite well dressed. I blinked as I stared at the nice violet dress shirt and black pants he had on. I also noticed he had removed his forehead protector and was sporting two silver studs in each ear. I blinked, I had never suspected Kisame to have piercings as I resisted the urge to fiddle with my own.

'See something you like?' Kisame teased as I rolled my eyes. I honestly didn't have any better clothing as something was dumped over my head. 'Go change' he commanded as the door was shut in my face. Honestly sometimes I wondered if Kisame was a friend or a commander. I could never seem to piece this guy together as I took the soft fabric off of my head. It was silky and a dark red colour as I tried to figure out how to get into the slinky item.

It took me a full ten minutes before I got into the dress as I stood looking at myself in the mirror. There was no way I was going out in this! It came to mid thigh with black straps that buckled in loops around my hips and down one arm. Plus the front plunged dangerously low as a set of buckles kept it closed all the way down to my navel.

I was NOT going to wear this.

'I am NOT wearing this Kisame!' I snapped as I heard a low rolling chuckle from the doorway. I turned and glared icily at him as two black stilettos hung off of one of his fingers. I gulped, high heels, I had never worn heels other than my boots as I watched Kisame give me elevator eyes.

'I should buy more clothing for you.' He muttered as I grabbed the heels from his hand. Sure I admit the dress looked good, but I was WAY too self conscious to go out in public like this. And Kisame's open gawking was freaking me out a bit, I had never been stared at like that by anyone, it really reminded me of a predator as I stomped into the bedroom once again. Kisame followed behind me silently as I could feel his hot stare on my lower back.

'Stop staring at my ass!' I snapped turning around and pulling my hoodie over myself. I felt slightly better as Kisame's face hardened.

'Take off the sweater.' His voice was like steel as I froze. Damn, I had hit a chord it seemed as I didn't move. 'Kasumi…' He waited fierce golden eyes flashing and becoming incredibly impatient. I immediately took off the sweater and pushed down the wave of fear that had been rising in my chest as Kisame gave me a smirk.

'There are you happy that I look like a whore?' I asked as he seemed a little surprised. I sat on the bed to strap on my heels as he rubbed the back of his neck.

'I picked one of the more conservative dresses. Come on, we'll be late' he said as I looked at the clock. It was well after 11 pm, where could we be going that we would be late? I was too tired to argue though one of the problems with having massive chakra reserves was that it took a while to restock them after they had been diminished. Kisame half dragged me along after him as I staggered on the heels.

I was by no circumstance a girly girl. I hadn't even worn heels once in my lifetime and already my feet were protesting at the angle they were forced to stay at. I tromped along as he led me out of the hotel and into town. It was a decent sized town not huge but not tiny, probably around 15, 000 people or so as Kisame turned sharply and dragged me down a side alley. Well, this looked safe as he led me around garbage bags and piles of debris that looked like they had been left to rot in this dingy alley. A few squatters stared at us as we passed as I forced myself to keep up with Kisame.

We came to a large steel door as Kisame rapped on it four times. The steel echoed eerily as the screech of steel on steel made me cringe as Kisame grabbed my arm and pulled me through the door. The door slammed behind us as I looked into the most futuristic club I had ever seen. Everything was black and chrome with black lights and coloured lights as a throng of people moshed to loud metal echoing over massive speakers all around the dance floor.

'Nice to see you again Kisame' the female voice made a shiver run up my spine as I turned to see a gorgeously curvy red head dressed in a long black gown that hugged all of the right curves and showed more skin than lingerie would. Kisame's shoulders tensed a little as I noticed he gave a charming grin.

'Red, I didn't think you'd be back from Stone so soon. Let me introduce my new partner Kasumi' Kisame gently tugged me more in front of him as I smiled as gave a little wave.

'Pleasure to meet you' I smiled as the busty redhead pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

'Well, I see you'll be busy tonight Kisame. Is Itachi here as well?' she asked licking her lips as I blinked. What the hell? She was interested in Itachi?

'No, he had other matters to attend to' He said as Red looked rather put out.

'Tell Itachi I miss him' she said and made to pass Kisame as she paused right next to Kisame. 'And I miss you too' she whispered before striding off as I heard Kisame sigh. Well, well, looks like I just learnt something about the Akatsuki.

They may not have girlfriends but they definetly liked their women. I guess it made them more human as Kisame ran a hand through his still unruly hair.

'I need a drink' he muttered moving to a small bar that was up a winding steel staircase. I followed just because I saw some of the stares I was getting from some of the men in the room and I knew that if I was left alone for more than a second I'd be jumped and raped without a second thought.

Honestly I didn't think I was that pretty but then again some men would sleep with anything that'd open their legs. I cringed and followed Kisame to a booth that had a very gothic feel with black seats and a red table cloth with a bouquet of dried roses in the centre. I sat on the far side as the waitress dressed in little more than a red tube top, purple short vest and a red plaid schoolgirl skirt sauntered over and set four drinks on the table.

'The usual Kisame?' she giggled as he nodded and looked at me with interest. 'and for you?' she asked as I blinked. I had had alcohol before but nothing of this caliber as Kisame looked at me.

'Get her a corpse reviver' Kisame asked as she smiled and nodded before striding off in her thigh high black boots. I sat and stared at the table as the thrum of the loud metal from downstairs pounded in the background. I never expected Kisame to be a club goer as I noticed he had downed two of his drinks already and was working on a third as my drink arrived and another round for Kisame.

'So Kasumi, how do you like the club?' Kisame asked setting his empty glass on the table and leaning one elbow on the table.

'It's nice' I said trying my best to keep him in a good mood. The incident with the dress earlier had shaken me a little. Kisame was not a man to be crossed. He was dangerous and he knew that I knew he could kill me in a single move.

I looked at the other people in the bar, I was getting more than a few stares but most were quick when they noticed who I was with. It seems Kisame was known in these parts, well obviously if he knew Red as well as she suggested.

Kisame had downed his six drinks as I sipped at mine. It was good, sweet and had that tinge that only brandy had along with other strong alcohols. I finished my drink only to have another one placed in front of me. I have had alcohol before, I mean I was in the military, but it never had been a favourite sin of mine.

'You know. I don't understand why you put up with us' Kisame's voice was raspy as I glanced at him. His face had a slight purple tinge from the alcohol as I blinked and turned to face him. He was leaning on the table as I was sure he was straining the bolts holding it together.

'What do you mean Kisame?' I asked, utterly confused now. What a random thing to say as the waitress brought over more drinks with a sultry smile that made me want to hit her. She was one of the reasons women were so frowned upon and called sluts.

'The Akatsuki really… isn't the best place in the world. Everyone is so… so… strange! I mean we're murderers!' he looked utterly serious as I noticed his gills flailed a little at the outburst which was weird but I figured normal for him. I swirled my drink in my glass and looked at him. He was sipping at an amaretto on the rocks.

'what makes you think that's so strange? The military isn't any different, they just make it okay because they're given the okay from someone with power. Its no different than the Akatsuki really.' I said as Kisame shook his head causing a few stray hairs to stand on end like they usually did.

'but… we're all so….' He looked frustrated looking for the correct word. 'fucked up, I mean, I'm a giant shark man. Itachi's a fucking sadistic emo, Deidara is a gender confused conartist, Sasori is a fucking puppet! Don't get me started on Hidan and Kakuzu those two are just WEIRD. And Zetsu is a walking cannibalistic plant man with schitzophrenia! How the hell do you… put up with it?' he grumbled slinging back another drink. I debated about taking the glass out of his hand but thought against looking at Kisame's sharp teeth. I smiled to myself Kisame would not remember any of this with the amount of alcohol he had ingested thus far.

'Because, you people are really the only people I've ever known that just…. Let me be me…. and don't really force me to do anything other than what leader commands. Its….kinda like being in a house full of…. Friends but most of you are a little strange but who isn't these days.' I muttered, I was pondering myself what made the Akatsuki so wonderful for me. Honestly the Akatsuki were a strange bunch but they all managed to get along. It was impressive especially since most of them were mass murderers and probably had aggression issues and personal issues to deal with that made them that way.

'hunh.' Kisame grunted as he took another sip of his drink. 'What I don't understand is why you're not married to some guy back in Konoha. Sure I hate the place but there must've been buckets of guys lining up to do you' he said as I rolled my eyes. Of course, alcohol always brought out the worst conversations in men.

'No one in Konoha wanted me. I'm not that pretty and I'm fairly weak as a ninja' I said realising I had finished my drink as I picked up the newest drink the waitress had brought me.

Kisame laughed loudly and thumped his hand on the table as he actually looked like he was crying a little.

'that's rich! You think you ugly and weak!' he dissolved into scoffs of laughter as I glared at him. 'you think the Akatsuki takes weak ninja Kasumi? Honestly, you put a kunai through my foot after I backhanded you through a tree. That's not weak' he grinned as I realised that what he was saying was true. 'so, what about Kakashi? He seemed pretty interested in you at our little battle' he said as I rolled my eyes.

'If I remember correctly that 'little battle' nearly got you killed' I said as he shrugged and gave me a warm smile.

'that's why I have you with me.' He scratched one of his gills as I had to stifle the giggle that threatened to rise up. Kisame must've been a cute little kid I thought as I blinked. That had come out of the blue as he swirled the ice in his glass idly.

'Kakashi was never interested in me. I was sent out into the military just after our sensei died. Haven't seen Kakashi since but what about you Kisame? You're a decent guy surely you have a girlfriend or a wife or something' I said as Kisame looked defeated all of a sudden. My heart went out to the guy honestly as I pulled myself back, why was I so concerned about Kisame? He was an evil elite ninja I was more than sure that he could look after himself.

'I had a fiancée at one point. But it turned out all she wanted was the social status of being married to one of the most elite ninja in mist. Needless to say all she was, was a social climber and about as faithful as a snake. The bitch' he muttered glaring at his glass. He seemed really pissed off as I pressed on.

'what happened between you two?' I asked as Kisame glanced at me. His face was now a nice shade of lavender as he sighed and rolled his shoulders.

'well… about ten years ago I defected from Mist. I had been part of a group of idiots that thought it'd be a good idea to try to overthrow our government. That was an epic failure. We were ratted out and you by who?' his eyes were fierce as he stared at me. I shrugged having no clue. 'that whore I called a fiancée. She was in on the whole plot and when we got into the Mizukage's building we were ambushed. That woman had ratted us out, most of them died there but I managed to get away.' He laughed bitterly and downed another drink. He was going to be so hung over tomorrow. But I was learning something about Kisame's past. He had been a part of an elite group of ninja rebels that was something different. At last he managed to get away, it must've been a pretty epic battle is Kisame was lucky he had managed to get out alive.

'she chased me with a group of ninja for two months all over the continent. It only came to an end when I killed her.' He muttered as I chocked on my drink. I coughed and swallowed managing to get the burning liquid out of my windpipe as Kisame gave my back a thump that nearly winded me.

'y-you killed her?' I managed to bite out as he nodded and traced one of the water rings on the table. I blinked, holy shit! I knew that Kisame was dangerous but to kill his own fiancée…

at that moment I was utterly terrified. Kisame had killed his own fiancée but my brain slowly caught up as I took in Kisame's stance. He was hunched over the table tracing little circles idly as it seemed his entire world had crashed at that moment.

'you probably think I'm a monster to be able to do that.' He muttered as I froze. Well yes I did, but then again… she had been hunting him down to try to kill him for over two months after he ran from mist. 'You see Kasumi, it was either her or me. She didn't love me, she never had. I was a convenience for her to get up the ranks and become the mizukage's wife. That bitch, she lied and stole and when it came down to it, she never wanted me, she just wanted my title.' He huffed and slammed his fist on the table making all of the glasses jump.

'I don't want to be a monster Kasumi' he looked up at me with such honesty in his golden eyes my chest seemed to stop working properly as I had to remind myself to breathe. I gave him a smile. My mind was racing trying to fit pieces together about Kisame.

A ruckus brought me back as the large glass one way mirror exploded inward. I jumped to my feet as Kisame over turned the table in his haste to get to his feet. I pulled a kunai from my dress as four ANBU ninja landed in the middle of the room.

People scurried for cover as a few of them fell to the ground kunai embedded in their backs. My hand hurt as I glanced down to see blood running freely and glass embedded in my hand. I guess I had crushed my glass in surprise as the four Anbu stood up from their attack positions. This was going to get ugly very quickly if I remembered anything about ANBU. They were ruthless and effective killers with high ranking techniques.

'You look well Miss Akahana. It seems our reports were false. You didn't die.' The leader's voice was male and monotone as I glared at the masked and robed male. I glared at him as a heard another gasp as people fell to the ground peppered in kunai.

'Looks like we have a traitor and a bounty to collect' a deep female voice said as a snake anbu mask turned to stare at me. I knew that voice. Kisame looked pissed as he stood slightly in front of me waiting. He was completely drunk but still managing to look intimidating.

'Kasumi, run and get as close to the main base as you can' Kisame whispered as I continued to stare down the ANBU patrol. I knew that I would indefintley loose any fight with ANBU and they'd kill me. In that moment I felt something I had never felt before. Anxiety. I was anxious about dying. It was the first time that I had ever felt anything about my own death. I knew that I would die, and probably sooner than later, but now I realised that I didn't want to die.

'Meet me at the border' I whispered as I glanced at him. He shook his head as I clasped my hands together.

'No, go find Itachi and Deidara and tell them what happened.' He instructed as I nodded. Kisame was the boss as I filled the room with mist. The ANBU patrol jumped as Kisame delivered a sickening punch to the first ones shoulder as I heard a crack through the thick mist I filled the room with.

'SOMEONE FIND HER!' I heard the patrol shout as I felt little flares of chakra. Barely detectable in the confusion as I moved through the fog as I heard the sharp sounds of breaking and fighting.

I didn't want to leave Kisame especially in the state he was in as I felt someone grab my arm. I immediately threw them over my shoulder as there was a crash from a table.

'nice try!' it was the female ANBU's voice as I immediately turned and ran. I found the door easily enough and took off at a sprint for the springs. I didn't feel anyone tailing me as I jumped through the window and grabbed my backpack and stuffed it before grabbing my robe and tossing Kisame's clothing into my bag as well.

A distinctive rustle made me turn to see Samehada leaning against a wall. Now I had two choices, leave Samehada and risk having Kisame come back for it or try to take it with me and give it back to Kisame but having my arms taken off by the sword.

Maybe I could explain the situation to the sword?

Did swords even have a consciousness?

Why was I debating this?!?!?

I threw my pack onto my back as I heard the door to the front of our room splinter open. Well, no choice now! I grabbed Samehada and threw it over my back with my bag. I nearly collapsed from the weight of the damn thing. It must've weighted at least as much as I did as I heard the ANBU searching our rooms.

I felt something prick me as I winced, Samehada didn't like me obviously as I jumped from the window and ran. I was considerably slower with the massive sword as I turned and headed from fire country toward lightning. I knew the guards would be doing their best to track me as I used a chakra cloaking technique developed for the military as I angled right and headed for wave for a short time.

I was hoping against hell that it would confuse them.

I kept running as the further I went from Kisame the more agitated Samehada seemed to get as the clicking of the scales seemed to sounds like rain on a tin roof. I knew it was also cutting my back to ribbons in the flimsy dress. I had lost my shoes eons ago as I ran barefoot from tree to tree hoping against hell to outrun the ANBU patrol.

This was exactly why I knew I should've just jumped off that bridge when I was 18 and let myself drown. It would've saved me a hall of a lot of problems. I turned north and ran along the coastline shielding myself from view by using the sea cliff's edge and its many rocky outcrops to shield myself from my assumed pursuers. Samehada was positively furious now as I felt the scales actually digging into my already bleeding skin through the bandaging. But I did as Kisame commanded and kept running. My chakra levels were holding steady after the nice rest at the springs at least I had that over the ANBU I could keep running for ages if need be.

Even though I hate running.

I knew I only had about another 10 miles to the border as I saw a familiar patterned cloak running nearly parallel to me on the top of the cliff.

I wasn't about to fall for that one.

I knew none of the other Akatsuki knew where I was nor Kisame was because we had been given roughly a week and a half for the mission. I stopped behind a rocky outcrop and dropped straight down landing on a small ledge just above the crashing waves as I created a water clone and sent her running in the same direction along the cliff.

The clone vanished around a bend as the cloaked Akatsuki ran along after the clone. I waited as I jumped to a more secluded ledge around the side of where I dropped in as I watched one of the tracking ANBU guards land where I had been moments ago. He wasn't 10 feet from me as I held my breath. Oh dear god, please let him not find me.

Oddly, Samehada had gone quiet and almost dormant it seemed as the ANBU guard's eyes fixed on my ledge. I quickly looked for another hiding spot but the only way to go was up and that was in full view of him. I watched as he prepared to jump before a sharp whistle made me jump and him look up. He seemed annoyed but complied and jumped back up to the ledge and carried on as I watched him vanish around the side of the cliff.

I sighed in relief as my heart hammered in my chest and I had to lean on the slimy wall for a second before I jumped back up to normal level and scaled the cliff wall to stand on the top. A few dilapidated windmills chugged sluggishly seemingly abandoned as I looked across the expanse of green never ending field. I squinted to see the rough outline of thunder country and tsunami bay in the distance as I headed inland from the coast.

Samehada had started up again as I knew it would take me at least two or three days to heal all the cuts and lacerations on my back. Not to mention the beautiful dress Kisame had bought for me was worth nothing but scrap now.

I hit the tree line and quickly turned north again zigzagging my way toward the cliff faces that I knew loomed at the begging of the mountains of thunder country. I thanked every single deity I could think of as I knew I had given the ANBU patrol the slip as I halted for a minute in the tree.

My breath was coming in gasps as Samehada rustled quietly as if notifying me of something. I jumped up higher into the thicker foliage as I felt my clone disintegrate. They had obviously caught her but where I didn't know and now they'd be on the hunt for me.

I heard a soft pat of sandal on tree as a kunai embedded itself in the tree right beside my right ear. I swung down from the tree landing in a crouch as the tracker ANBU from before landed in front of me. He was good I had to admit as I knew he was smiling under his mask.

'You're very smart for a military ninja' he complimented me as I glared at him. 'but it still amazes me that you of all people joined the Akatsuki. You're not exactly talented in fighting, nor do you seem gifted with any bloodline limits.' He said as I didn't say anything, he was stalling for the others to catch up with him. Samehada clacked on my back as I felt a dark chakra push into me. Immediately I felt an incredible amount of rage surge forward.

I wanted this man dead.

And Samehada was looking like a pretty good option as before I knew what I was doing I pulled Samehada from my back. The bindings shredded with no effort as the ANBU seemed surprised. I held the weapon in front of me as I tried to comprehend what was going on. It seemed like my body wasn't my own as the rage fuelled my actions and I leapt at the man.

He laughed and ducked as I turned and grazed his arm with the sword. There was a pause before he grunted in pain and a spurt of blood came from his arm. He turned and threw a barrage of Kunai before leaping away and trying to come at me from a different angle. Samehada blocked me from the attack as I swung again feeling the muscles in my arms strain and surely break from the massive weapon as I managed to cut his cloak and break one of this arm guards.

I had to get away.

But he needed to die for trying to attack me and Kisame!

What was going on?!?!?!

This rage had come from nowhere as I followed each one of his moments. It seemed I had hurt him worse than he let on as he was starting to slow down and get sloppy in his movements. He was loosing too much blood from the gash in his arm.

I looked away for a split second trying to pull back the rage as I heard him over to strike. I blindly swung Samehada as I heard a smack. I had managed to smack him into a tree with the broadside of Samehada as he didn't get up.

Had I killed him?

Something pulled at me to finish the job as I quickly and forcefully shoved the rage back as much as I could and replaced Samehada before taking off for the mountains. He had delayed me long enough. The others would be getting too close for comfort soon as I used the rage to quicken my pace. Samehada made a gleeful almost clapping like sound as the sores on my back still rubbed and more seemed to be made from the lack of bandages on Samehada and the shreds my dress was in from fleeing.

I hit the mountains at a dead run as I climbed and scurried around boulders, cliffs and trees. It started to rain after I hit the first valley as within second I was soaked to the bone. The water didn't help as I slid in the mud a few times as I hit the border of lightning. The abrupt change of deciduous trees to coniferous at this altitude notified me as I stopped and slumped against a tree. I was exhausted as I leant my head against my arm. Dear god I hoped Kisame had managed to get away. I looked up through the long shadows realising I had been running for over 24 hours through the night, the day and late into the evening. My legs gave out as I collapsed into the soft pine needles at the base of the tree. I was so exhausted but I knew that I had to get back to head quarters and send out the others to help Kisame.

I forced myself to my feet as I dug around in my pack and pulled out my robe and zipped it up. It gave me a bit more warmth then my torn, soiled and sodden dress did as I hefted Samehada back onto my back and ran again.

Home was roughly eight valleys north and six to the west as I skirted yet another mountain. Home, how funny that my mind immediately jumped to the Akatsuki hideout to being home even though I was still just a newbie in the group. I jumped a ledge and landed in a small grove of trees as Samehada clacked once again. I knew it was a warning sign as I saw a large cat eyeing me up. I did not need this! I turned tail and ran heading for the next valley. Kisame needed help and at the rate I was chewing up chakra I would need help soon too.

I turned west as I had to stop on a ledge once again. I set my stuff down and sat on a rock. I was shaking and my body was protesting any movement especially my arms as I saw large bruises forming down the lengths of them. I didn't want to imagine the muscle damage I had caused swinging Samehada as I got on my feet once again. Samehada seemed 500 pounds heavier as my legs nearly buckled under its weight as I started running again.

I had to find Itachi and Deidara. Kisame needed them as I hoped against hope that Kisame had managed to get away more or less intact as the familiar clacking of bamboo reached my ears. I stood on a ledge over the last valley as I noticed that it really was a sea of bamboo and dark trees as I sighed in relief. The hideout. I was so close.

'Found you!' I turned as I felt a kunai pierce my shoulder. Dammit! They had caught up to me! I fell to the dirt as I saw the tracker climb shakily from behind a tree. I didn't have the energy to get up as the same rage as before seemed to slam into me. The rage was fuel but my body was just too beaten and exhausted to use it as I lay there.

The tracker came closer as I panted in the dirt rocks pressing against my bruises as I felt the blood from the kunai soaking my cloak.

'You are quite the little fighter, giving us the slip and your blue friend too. I'm glad I was at least able to hunt you down even after you nearly killed me with that beast of a sword.' He spat on me as he kicked Samehada. The sword clacked in irritation as it dug into the wounds on my back through my cloak.

Kisame had managed to get away. That was good. At least Kisame had managed to run and not be killed. He was the one that really needed to live as I closed my eyes. Dear god why didn't he just kill me? Instead he circled me.

'I'm just waiting for the others tog et here so we can haul your ass in for questioning and for information about the Akatsuki' he laughed as I grunted. So that was his plan, stalling for backup. How pathetic.

'you really are pathetic' I muttered as his footsteps halted. I looked up at him. He was staring at me as I grinned. 'waiting for backup like a good puppy. That's what sickened me about Konoha. You're always waiting, wasting away, doing exactly what you hate just because they say so.' I laughed but it sounded more like a cough. He was glaring at me as he strode closer.

'what would you know traitor? You turned your back on everything everyone had done for you, everyone who loved you!' he spat as I stared at the trees behind him. Ah yes, that same old argument. 'well?!' he spat glaring at me.

'Konoha never did anything for me and everyone that loved me is dead or forgotten' I said as the man glared at me.

'you're lying' he hissed as I just lay there. I hoped someone would feel my chakra flare sometime soon as I released my chakra binding jutsu. Immediately my chakra flared incredibly high as I felt something hard and blunt make contact with my ribcage. I bit back a scream as I heard my ribs crunch from the impact as I rolled a couple of feet.

That bastard had kicked me! I lay there facing away from him as I tried to breathe shallowly hoping to god none of my ribs had punctured anything vital. They hadn't which was good as I heard him shift.

'Don't try to call your friends. It wont work! I know exactly what you're trying to do!' he said as I heard a smooth chuckle.

In all my life I never thought I'd be happy to hear that voice.

'What exactly is the bitch trying to do?' Hidan's voice was relaxed as he stepped out from a large boulder in front of me.

'FUCK!' the Anbu tracker cursed as Hidan looked highly amused.

'Fuck what? You? I highly doubt that. I think the bitch would rather fuck that giant sword than your dong' he said as I saw Kakuzu and Itachi materialize seemingly out of thin air. I heard the tracker shift in the dirt as I lay there staring at my team mates.

'So fucker, how do you want to die?' Hidan asked as Itachi cut him a glance before staring straight at Samehada still strapped to my back. I watched as Hidan grinned and ran straight at the tracker as Kakuzu moved along with Itachi to where I lay.

'cant you move?' Itachi's voice was cold as he stared at me.

'no' I gasped as I felt Kakuzu grip my arm and lift me against his chest. Then we were moving as I heard a long echoing scream fill the air. It sounded like Hidan was having fun. It seemed like no time and we were back in the Akatsuki hideout and tobi was staring at me with his orange mask as he made me drink various nasty concoctions and started healing my wounds.

'where is Kisame?' Itachi stared at me as tobi was mending my back with chakra as best he could until I could for myself later on.

'We had to split up, he told me to come here and get you and Deidara to go after him' I said as Itachi seemed thoughtful for a moment before he strode from the room soundlessly.

'Tobi is impressed that Kasumi could carry Samehada. Samehada only likes Kisame. Samehada must like Kasumi or Kisame must like Kasumi for Kasumi to be able to carry Samehada!' tobi prattled over me. I filed the little snippet of information away as I listened to the clinking of bamboo as I dropped into unconsciousness.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.


	11. Storms and Home

I didn't know how much time had passed when I awoke next as I felt warm and fuzzy all over. Probably an anesthetic Tobi had given me to dull the pain that would be in my muscles. I did a quick check as I realised just how much damage my sprint for help had caused. My arm muscles were torn to shreds, it would take a week to heal even with chakra speed healing and I'd be virtually useless to pick up or carry anything. My back was mostly healed just a few of the deeper gashes were still scabbed over the rest seemed healed. I healed as much of the muscles in my legs as I could and the shin splints I had received from the running. I was peppered in bruises as I did my best to heal my ribs.

I was glad for the anesthetic as it numbed my body to nearly all of the pain as I pulled the ribs back into place and healed the cracks in them. The bruises could heal in their own time. I lay back as I heard low voices not far from me as I noticed that I was in an infirmary of sorts. It looked more like a spare room equipped with medical tools as I listened to the conversation as best I could.

'- and she's holding steady. Mostly muscle damage from what Tobi tells me. Has Kisame been found yet?' It was Kakuzu's voice as there was a shift of weight and a squeak of floorboards.

'Kisame is still being tracked. The ANBU patrol has been removed. Make sure she is recovered enough to fix up Kisame by the time he gets back. What happened to your hands?' Leader's voice was quiet but like steel as I just lay there. I really shouldn't be listening but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know what had become of Kisame after I had seemingly ditched him.

'Kisame's sword. Turns out spikes protrude from the handle if you try to grab it. It's mystery as to how Kasumi brought it back here with only minimal damage to her body.' Kakuzu's voice was deep and raspy as if he had been up for a long time. I looked for a clock as I noticed it was late afternoon, 4 pm to be exact as I grabbed the glass of water on the table beside me and swallowed the contents in two gulps.

My arms shook dangerously and ached through my drug haze as the glass slipped from my hand and smashed to the floor. The door opened quickly as Kakuzu stepped in as looked at me. There was no sign of leader.

'breaking things already?' Kakuzu asked as he pulled out a broom from a closet. I didn't say anything and tried my best to glare at him. Hard to do with gauze stuck to your cheek and over one eye. He just cleaned up the glass as I lay back on the fluffy pillows. There was no way I was going to be able to get out of bed for nearly a week just to let my muscles heal. They would probably spasm again like they had when Itachi had trained me too hard. I winced, not a feeling I wished to return to.

'Pain?' Kakuzu asked at my flinch as I shook my head. No, I was quite alright for pain medications as Kakuzu dumped the shards into a garbage bin. 'Tobi is around call him if you want something' he muttered before stepping out of the room and sliding the door shut behind him.

I lay back as I heard the distant clacking of the bamboo in the breeze. Soon the sound changed as I noticed it sounded more like rain on a tin roof as I turned to see Samehada leaning against one of the cabinets as the layers of scales shook and clapped together creating the rainy sound.

'what do you want?' I asked as the sound ceased and then resumed again. I stared at the sword, it definetly was an odd design and in need of cleaning as I looked at all of the rust coloured stains on the scales. 'so do you want to be cleaned?' I asked as the rain sound came again. I must've sounded like an idiot talking to a sword as I managed to sit up. My arms ached terribly as I noticed they had been bandaged tightly and well. Samehada rattled again as I leant for the sword. I ached as I managed to get a hand around the handle. Immediately I felt something prick me as I let go. A thin trail of blood ran down my palm from the spikes semi-protruding from Samehada's handle.

I realised something after this, I had no way to pull Samehada to me with no muscle strength. That was frustrating. I lay back as Samehada clacked in an irritated manner.

'well thanks to you I have no strength to pick you up or clean you.' I spat as the sword clacked again and seemed to shake itself in irritation. I glared at the sword as the door squeaked open again. I looked up to see a cheery orange mask as Tobi came in carrying a tray laden with food. He must've seen that I was awake as I saw his one eye curve as if he was grinning.

'Tobi hopes kasumi is hungry!' he chirped as I smiled despite my soreness. No matter what Tobi was like a breath of fresh air or a warm sunny day. He just made you feel good. He seemed to skip in and set the tray in my lap as I saw the array for foods. Pancakes, waffles, toast, eggs, bacon, fruit salad, yogurt, and a cup of orange juice. I smiled and lifted my arms as best I could and started eating. It was difficult seeing as my coordination was poor from the lack of muscle in my arms.

'How are Kasumi's arms and legs?' Tobi asked as I shrugged stuffing another wonderful syrup covered pancake chunk into my mouth. Tobi could cook very well it seemed as he took a seat on the foot of the bed.

'Any word if Kisame was found?' I asked around a mouthful of pancake. Tobi shook his head.

'Itachi and Deidara haven't reported back yet. Tobi doesn't know anything' he said somewhat sadly as Samehada chose that moment to give an irritated rattle. I glared at the sword.

'Shush you. I'll clean you when I can move again' I said as Samehada gave its rain on a roof noise. I could feel Tobi staring at me as I finished off the pancakes and moved onto the waffles. It was weird being in the hideout knowing Kisame wasn't there but running from the now obliterated ANBU patrol. Actually the Akatsuki would probably get a good amount of bounty for the ANBU bodies in stone. I really was becoming evil, or at least seeing the flipside of what life on the outside was like.

We sat in silence as I finished eating, then Tobi checked how my body was healing before helping it along the way a little by healing all of the wounds on my back.

'Don't tire yourself out too much Tobi' I smiled and relaxed back onto the bed as he tucked me in.

'Don't worry Kasumi, Tobi knows what he's doing' he said as picked up the now empty tray. 'Tobi will be back later. Don't move too much okay?' Tobi then bounced from the room as I smiled. Tobi really did look out for me, it was an odd feeling knowing that someone was making sure I was okay. Caring about me.

I stared at the ceiling as I realised how utterly bored I was. I hoped Kisame was okay.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fuck! Kisame ploughed through another tree branch as he ran. Getting away from the bar had been interesting as he had had to detonate the building with water as a distraction. Now he had been running for a solid two days west trying to lead the patrol away from kasumi. They had managed to beat the living shit out of him as his breath came in pants and his left arm dangled uselessly.

The thought of the ANBU group catching her terrified him as he left a more than obvious trail to lead them away. It had worked for a while before he noticed two of them split off and wind back to the northeast. He flicked some blood and hair out of his eyes as his face stung from the deep gash he had received from a shuriken.

Even in his half drunken state he knew he had to try to keep them running toward Sand. It was the best idea he had at the time. They had fallen back a while ago and he was beginning to wonder if they had given up on catching him and headed back to get Kasumi. The trees thinned as he found himself standing on the branch of a stripped tree at the beginning of the sand dunes that marked the start of Sand country.

He did a quick sweet for chakra flares as he came up empty handed. Nothing. This area was empty of ninja as panic began to rise in his chest. They had gone after Kasumi. He knew that against ANBU Kasumi didn't have a chance and now she had four after her. Turning he knew that Kasumi would head back to the hideout as told. He headed north before cutting east across the top of fire country. Hopefully he'd be able to cut them off before they found Kasumi.

He was just about to turn north again when the sound of a battle caught his attention. A loud explosion rocked the area as birds took off from their roosts in trees and flames licked the sky.

That had Deidara written all over it as he headed for the sounds of battle. On instinct he reached for Samehada as he realised with a sinking feeling that he had left it back at the hot spring. Damn him being drunk and being caught off guard as he slid into the battle area.

Turning he saw one of the ANBU launch an attack on Itachi who was standing stoic off to the side of the cratered clearing. In that moment he had never been so glad to see the Uchiha as sharingans fixed on the ANBU ninja and suddenly he dropped dead.

'HAHA DIE FUCKER!' Hidan's shout rang across the area as the smoke settled a little and Deidara landed his giant bird in the clearing. The remaining ANBU member dropped to the ground as Hidan screamed joyously. Bloody masochist.

'Hey is that a large blue shark man I see yea?!' Deidara exclaimed as Kisame laughed despite himself. He was glad to see the trio, it meant that Kasumi had made it back to the hideout without a problem.

'Shit you look like hell' hidan commented his scythe still impaled through his chest as Itachi walked over soundlessly. Kisame glared at him as Itachi stood beside Kisame.

'lets go. Kasumi should be recovered enough to heal you' Itachi said as Deidara shot the Uchiha a dark look. Kisame felt a little sick, kasumi was recovering? Had one of the ANBU caught her?

'it's nothing serious Kisame, yea. Just muscle fatigue, she managed to get back to the hideout in one day with Samehada yea.' Deidara said smiling as Kisame blinked. She had carried Samehada with her all the way back to the hideout in lightning? That was a huge distance to carry that sword in such a short period of time….and kasumi was so small, not to mention Samehada didn't like anyone other than him touching it.

'Really, that bitch is a tank' Hidan grinned his skin still skeletalized as he was now lying on a bloody circle with the scythe sticking out of his chest. Hidan was a weird one that was for sure as Diedara scowled at his limp arm.

'what the fuck happened to you yea? I've never seen you so banged up yea!' he said as Kisame shrugged. He had lost his buzz and the pain he hadn't noticed until Diedara pointed out the fact that his arm was dislocated and broken in several places as was his ribs. Now it was radiating and he wanted to hit the stone nin for pointing it out.

'Happens when you're running from an ANBU squad with a barely trained medic and drunk off your ass' he laughed as Diedara blinked a few times then rolled his eyes.

'You were drunk yea! Kasumi could've died because you were drunk Kisame yea! Honestly does your life suck that much, yea?' the blonde fumed as Kisame's eyes darkened and the effeminate man knew he had stepped on a nerve as he put his hands up as if facing an armed person. 'sorry, yea' he said before turning and running for the safety of his giant clay bird.

Kisame pushed his anger down as Itachi leant his shoulder against Kisame's. Itachi really didn't like contact with anyone other than Kisame it seemed as over the years the duo had come up with a secret kind of sign language because of Itachi's habit for being silent.

Immediately Kisame tried to calm himself down and looked at Itachi's obsidian eyes.

'That was reckless' Itachi muttered as Kisame felt scolded. Itachi may have only been 17 but the boy knew more than most adults ever would and he knew he did. 'But Kasumi is a ninja. She needs to learn to fend for herself. I'm impressed that she managed to fend off the tracker twice…Hm…. Yes, maybe there is hope for her becoming an efficient ninja' Itachi was mumbling to himself again as Kisame pretended not to listen. A small part of him felt a little better now that Itachi even seemed to grudgingly approve of their new puppy of a team mate.

'Lets get the fuck out of here I'm hungry and its Tobi's turn to cook and he promised me grilled cheese the little bastard!' Hidan grinned as he climbed up beside Diedara. Kisame joined along with Itachi as the large clay bird lifted off and angled for the mountains of lightning country.

!!!!!!!!!!!

A fierce storm had blown up randomly in the late evening as Tobi and whomever else was in the house ran around battening down the hatches against the driving wind and rain.

Lightning country, it was named appropriately as massive bolts of lightning flashed almost like strobe lights and the resounding thunder never seemed to end. The wind howled and the bamboo shrieked its protest as I lay there staring at Samehada. It had started its soothing rain on a tin roof sound the minute when I began to feel stressed about the storm. I had never liked them, even as a child the lightning had scared me after that one incident way back in my genin days.

'_Kasumi! Hurry up!' Kakashi yelled as I glared at the boy. He really was such a prick as Rin lashed the tent and tarp down as quickly as she could. Sensei still hadn't returned from collecting supper when the storm had blown in more quickly and fierce than had been predicted. _

'_KAKASHI I CANT HOLD IT!' Rin yelled over the driving wind and ran as he dropped his pack under a crumpled tarp and ran to help Rin. I was packing away a set of metal cooking pans when the first bolt licked through the sky and a growl of thunder followed. Storms had never really bothered me as a child, I had been fascinated by them staring out my windows long into the night to watch the gorgeous display of power as the high volts of electricity danced through the air. _

_I shoved the last pan into the pack and went to help Kakashi and Rin as they fought with the massive tarp that had come loose and was flailing around in the harsh wind. _

'_Leave it, we have to seek shelter!' Kakashi roared over the wind as Rin immediately let go. I hadn't heard Kakashi as I managed to secure the tarp's cable around the tree once again. _

_I turned as I saw Kakashi jump as I felt a sharp tingle run through me before it felt like I was on fire all over my body. It was horrible, I have never felt pain like that as I wanted to scream but no sound came out. Then I was swallowed by blackness as I heard Kakashi and Rin screaming my name over the torrents of wind, rain, and a booming roll of thunder._

Turns out I had been struck by lightning and now, decades later I could still feel the sharp edge of anxiety every time I saw the room light up. God, I hoped everyone who went to find Kisame was alright. They were smart enough to see the storm coming and seek shelter before it managed to get too bad. I hoped.

The storm never seemed to end as Samehada kept up its soothing rattle as I lay there wishing my head was under the pillow. With my arms out of commission I fond it incredibly hard to do anything let alone lift a pillow. It had been hard holding a fork earlier today so a pillow was definitely not going to be happening anytime soon.

There was a creak of floorboards outside of my room as I noticed a warm glow from something like a lamp or flashlight illuminated the hallway as my door slid open quietly. I was on red alert as I saw that it was only Tobi with a flashlight as he stepped into the little room.

'Tobi?' I asked as his head jerked up and he came and sat at the end of the bed.

'Is kasumi all right? Does her arms or legs hurt?' he asked pointing the flashlight at the ceiling and creating a little lamp. I shook my head as another flash of lightning lit up the room temporarily. I flinched involuntarily as the boom from the following thunder resonated in my chest. There wasn't a moment as another flash bounced around the room. The storm was getting worse as all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide until it was over.

My distress must've showed as Tobi got up and went over to one of the cabinets. After a few minutes of rooting he returned with some water and a few little pills. I swallowed them as Tobi grabbed the flashlight and cocked his head.

'Would Kasumi like Tobi to stay?' he asked as I looked up at the man. He was so childlike and innocent. Like a brother almost, if I had ever had one, he was what I imagined Tobi would be like. There was another bright flash of lightning as my decision was made for me. I nodded sharply as Tobi climbed into my bed so that I was using his chest as a backrest.

'What makes kasumi so scared of lightning?' he asked as I leant back against him. It was weird being so close to someone who wasn't Kisame. I was accustomed to having Kisame lying beside me, not Tobi. Tobi had a different feel to his presence, warm, bouncy, affectionate. Plus he was softer than Kisame and much thinner and generally smaller than Kisame. It was odd, but I rather liked Tobi as a friend out of all the Akatsuki. Tobi made me feel like I was wanted and loved as he turned off the flashlight and the room was illuminated by the lightning.

'I was hit by a bolt when I was a kid. I nearly died, but I was lucky we were so close to Konoha that I was saved' I said as Tobi shifted and something like a large scarf was draped over my front. Tobi wore a scarf? He was even more like a little kid than I thought as he pulled off a pair of black gloves and set them on the table.

'Kasumi is lucky to have survived so many accidents' he said as I noticed with Tobi here the lightning wasn't as frightening and I was getting quite sleepy.

'yea, I am pretty lucky.' I mused as my brain started to shut down to try to sleep. 'thank you Tobi……. You're like the brother I never had' I wasn't sure if I said the last part or not as I drifted to sleep on Tobi's soft sweater.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'Kisame you really don't like flying do you yea?' Deidara asked as Kisame vomited over the side of the bird for the fourth time that trip. Kisame REALLY hated flying for some odd reason he always managed to get motion sick and it just ended badly for everyone.

'he's a fucking fish man of course he doesn't like the air he should be swimming around in a goddamn stream or something' Hidan muttered lying on the bird and keeping a violet eye on his vomiting team mate.

'Shut up Hidan' Kisame muttered as another wave of nausea fought its way forward and he dry heaved over the bird once again. Itachi watched his partner discreetly as he watched Kisame's laboured breathing and still useless arm. None of them were versed in any medical training other than Tobi and he only knew the basics. Itachi knew a few techniques but they were mostly to staunch excessive bleeding and prevent infections in deep wounds. He didn't know what to do with a dislocated shoulder and broken bones.

'That arm isn't helping matters' Itachi mumbled as a distant roll of thunder caught their attention.

'FUCK!'

'Shit!'

'That is a set back'

And Kisame vomited over the side of the bird again as the clay bird halted in mid air. They weren't far off from the lightning border after an entire day and a half of flying but they definitely weren't going to be making it home anytime soon by flying.

A massive lightning storm easily 100 km across blanketed the entire sky in front of them blocking out the mountains only lighting then every once in a while by a bolt of lightning.

'Dammit, now what yea?' Deidara asked sitting down on the now hovering bird. Kisame was thankful for the lack of movement as Itachi stood and seemed to size up the storm. They all knew that a lightning storm in lightning country could easily last a week with its unique geography. Kisame knew he didn't have that long if he wanted his bones set in any semblance of order in his body again.

'we don't have time. We go through the storm' itachi's voice was monotone as hidan shot to his feet.

'ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!?! We'll get zapped into next goddamn week!' he snapped as Deidara fixed him with a glare.

'what do you care you're immortal yea!' he snapped as hidan seemed to realise this fact and grinned sitting again.

'well, YOU'LL get your asses zapped into next week then' he snickered as Itachi looked at Kisame and Deidara. Within a few moments their problem had been solved as Hidan was tied with non explosive clay to the front of the bird with his scythe above his head as a lightning rod.

'YOU'RE ALL FUCKING DEAD WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!' Hidan roared as Deidara pointed the bird into the storm. Itachi sat next to Kisame with a very satisfied grin as he listened to Hidan's continual spout of profanity as they entered the storm. Kisame laughed outright at the Uchiha and Hidan's misfortune as there were a few shrieks when the bolts actually struck him.

'He is really going to kill us isn't he, yea' Deidara muttered to Kisame as he gave his best attempt at a shrug. Maybe Kisame didn't care, he just wanted a shower and his arm and bones to be repaired. And to see kasumi the little voice popped up as he squished it instantly. No. he had been over this, he had NO feelings. Period. None for ANYTHING, let alone Kasumi.

The bird swooped around ridges and mudslides as a familiar bamboo forest came into view deep within a very sheltered valley. Kisame felt much better when he saw the bamboo forest as Hidan continued to curse.

'home sweet home yea' Deidara muttered as he took them down.


	12. Don't you dare!

It had been two days the storm had been raging never dying out. Two days I had been stuck staring at white walls and ceiling trying to get some strength back into my arms and legs. Two days since I had any news of what was going on in the search for Kisame. Two days without information on half of the Akatsuki.

I lay back on my pillows and blew a piece of hair out of my eyes. Man was I BORED. I could've screamed I was so bored. I looked at Samehada who was still making its rain on a tin roof noise as there was a knock on my door.

Odd, no one knocked. They just came in.

'uh, come in?' I called as the door slid open and a young red headed boy stood at the door. I blinked. Who was this kid? I had never seen him before.

'Hello, kasumi. I take it you are feeling better?' he asked as I nodded slowly still staring at the young boy. He gave a slight smile, more of a smirk as he crossed the room and put a hand to my forehead. 'I'm sorry that Tobi could not come. He was previously engaged and couldn't leave so I volunteered to come. You probably don't recognise me but I am Sasori.' He said shuffling around as he produced a group of dried herbs seemingly out of nowhere and mixed them with a mortar and pestle.

'Sasori? But I thought…' my brain tried to catch up. Sasori was… little? I looked at his body as I noticed his joints and the way he moved he seemed almost… puppet like. How strange. I watched him for a few more minutes as he turned to me with his smirk smile on his face.

'Sorry for my strange appearance. I am in fact one of my own creations. A chakra puppet controlled by myself. It's a marvellous achievement of chakra control and medical studies of toxins.' He explained as I nodded recalling a book I had read about a crazy boy in Suna who after loosing his parents became a master puppeteer vanished and started killing ninja and turning them into puppets. Now I was sitting in front of the man.. err… boy who had done that. it was terrifying actually as I stared at his round innocent face.

'So you're Sasori of the red sand' I said as the boy laughed and handed me a bowl with some type of pink liquid in it.

'Some may call me that. But that was in a past life. I am simply Sasori to anyone here. I am a poisons expert and well versed in anything toxin related. Now drink that. it'll help with pain and speed up the muscle tissue growth in your arms and legs.' He said before standing and turning to leave. I took a swig of the stuff expecting it to be extremely bitter as I realised it was sweet and tasted like strawberries as Sasori paused by the door.

'The search party has been spotted near the border. They'll be here by tomorrow along with Kisame. I suggest you rest up' he said as the door slid closed behind him. I sat there staring at the door just wondering at the strange visit as suddenly I felt really heavy. Now I knew why it had tasted sweet. He had given me a sedative as my body relaxed and I fell back onto my pillows in a dreamless sleep, the bowl of liquid slipping from my hand and spattering all over the floor.

I woke sometime later as someone was shaking me quite forcefully. I fought to go back to sleep as the sedative Sasori had given me hadn't quite worn off yet as I slipped back into dreamless sleep despite the shaking.

The next time I woke I knew the drugs had work off as I sat up and smacked my forehead into someone who had been standing by the side of my bed. My brain seemed to rattle as the pain echoed through my forehead to the back of my head and back as I looked down to see an unconscious Deidara on the floor. I blinked and reached down to shake his leg.

'hey Dei?' I shook his leg again. Nothing. He was out cold. Good head butt, I was getting better at being a ninja as the door slid open and Hidan stepped in looking pissed, singed and soaked.

'DEIDARA!' he yelled as he stopped suddenly and looked at the man sprawled on the floor beside my bed. Then at me. Then at dei. Then me again. Then at dei. Then back to me as violet eyes fixed on me. 'What the fuck did you do?' he asked a grin splitting across his face as I blinked.

'I sat up and head butted him unconscious' I said as Hidan burst into a roar of laughter. I waited as I noticed he was crying he was laughing so hard as he actually fell on the floor and continued laughing. I didn't think it was that funny in all honesty.

'Fuck, that's funny!; he coughed getting to his feet and stepping over Deidara's body. 'Let's go tank' he snapped tugging on my arm as the still recovering muscles ached terribly at the movement.

'Stop that!' I snapped trying to pull my arm back as he held it increasing pressure as tears welled in my eyes from the sheer agony he was pulling me in. Samehada rattled dangerously sounding like falling shale as Hidan grinned wickedly. 'What are you gonna do girly? Cry? Because I know a better way for you to be crying' he grinned as I glared at him. Hidan was a sicko as I swung my legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. My legs wobbled and gave out as I smashed my knees into the hardwood floor. That was going to bruise as Hidan stood and watched me in mild amusement.

Asshole.

I managed to stand as I had to hold onto the desk for balance as my arms ached from the weight I had to put on them. I was in no condition to be moving yet as Hidan breezed from the room. I assumed I was to follow him as I staggered past the unconscious Deidara and into the hall. My shoulder slammed into the wall as I leant there for a few minutes my legs and arms aching from even their minimal use. Hidan stuck his head around a corner as I gave him the finger and hurried to catch up with him. Hidan wound his way through the halls as I realised we were headed to Kisame's room.

I heard low voices as Hidan stood in front of the door and glanced at me. I was barely wearing any clothes. A pair of boxers from Tobi and a baggy sweater that I assumed was Kisame's by the sheer size of it when I had put it on. My arms and legs were bandaged as were a few cuts and scrapes on my face, hands and neck from the fights I had survived. My hand was bandaged from the glass I had broken in the bar, Tobi had told me the glass had become infected and that's one of the reasons I was so tired.

Hidan smirked and threw open the door as the voices stopped.

'Where's Deidara?' Kakuzu's low tenor asked as Hidan shrugged and stepped into the room.

'Our little tank head butted the fucker unconscious. Turns out Sasori gave her a sedative to speed her healing.' He snorted as I stepped around him and shoulder checked him for good measure. He staggered a little then glared at me as I hurried over to where Kisame and Kakuzu were standing.

I had a healthy fear for Hidan, but sometimes my anger overrode my sense of self preservation. I noticed the Kisame was sitting in his bed his leg arm lying at the most awkward angle I had ever seen. I immediately sat down on the bed as my legs gave out and I did a face plant into Kisame's knees.

'Hidan! She cant even stand! How the hell is she supposed to treat Kisame' Kakuzu hissed as Hidan glared at his partner.

'She's fine! The bitch carried the fucker of a sword across three countries in a day and a half she's fine!' he snapped as I ignored the duos bickering and looked at Kisame. I could tell he was in pain as golden eyes fixed on mine. He was sweating and his face was contorted as if he were pushing down the urge to yell.

'hey Kasumi' he muttered as I placed my hand on his limp wrist and the other on his chest and did a preliminary scan of his vitals. Dislocated shoulder, multiple fractures in his arm, various cuts and gashes on his body, some were becoming infected. He was sick too. It seems Kisame had managed to pick up a cold or the flu or something as I tracked the virus in his lungs and intestinal tract. Wonderful.

I opened my eyes and looked at where Kakuzu was to find Sasori standing there. I blinked as he held out a cup with a similar liquid to what he had given me earlier. I nodded and took the cup from him.

'Hey drink this, it'll make you feel better' I lied as Kisame nodded and took the whole drink in one shot. I watched as large golden eyes blinked owlishly before closing and he passed out. Sasori moved around to help me as did Tobi as they brought out bandages and splints as I directed them to clean and disinfect the wounds while I tended to his mangled arm.

Setting the bone was the painful part and was going to take the longest as I started. I pulled the fragments of bone from the spiral fracture back into place and healed the worst of the cracks in it. Tobi and Sasori waited patiently as it was nearly an hour before I finished the once fracture. The more I fixed in Kisame's arm the more I realised that he must've been defending himself pretty strongly to have some of these fractures.

Most were impact fractures from heavy objects hitting him but others were from grabbing and throwing and such. It must've been a brutal fight for Kisame to walk away with this much damage.

Tobi and Sasori worked around me splinting Kisame's arm after I finished the majority of the healing. He would still have to wear the splints for a least a week or two just to make sure that they healed on their own as I realised I had been working for a solid six hours on the fractures in Kisame's arms.

I hadn't used much of my chakra but I had to concentrate as I sat back long enough to eat some of the soup and crackers Tobi had brought us from the kitchen. It was good soup, almost stew like as I finished half of my bowl before going back to Kisame's arm.

A light hand touched my shoulder as Sasori handed me my bowl again. I blinked, I really wasn't that hungry as he set the bowl in my hands.

'You need to eat you've been sleeping for over 24 hours' he said as Tobi bowl was already empty and Sasori didn't seem to need food as I nodded and finished the bowl before going back to Kisame's arm. I finished the mending as Tobi splinted the last of his arm. Now for the shoulder.

I gently moved closer and bent his arm at a 90 degree angle. I was glad he was unconscious as this was not going to be quick or painless. I moved Kisame's arm back and forth slowly as I gently pushed my other hand on the joint of his shoulder. Slowly ever so slowly I felt his shoulder push back into place as I felt his hand move to grab my forearm tightly. The muscles in my arms were screaming in protest at the movement as Tobi was fussing about the strain I was putting on my body.

'Kasumi is going to hurt herself if she pushes herself too far!' Tobi pointed as Kisame grumbled in his drugged state large dilated golden eyes blinking groggily at me as his shoulder finally seemed to relocate and I let go. I continued sitting for a few minutes before my entire body began to ache once again. It wasn't terrible but it was persistent as Tobi ran over to check that I was okay. I batter his hands away as Kisame fought to look at me.

'thanks…woman' he managed to mumble as I shot him a glare but he was already unconscious once again.

'Are you alright Kasumi?' Sasori asked as I nodded and gave a small smile.

'Just a little tired that's all' I smiled as Sasori nodded. I climbed to my feet as Tobi led me from the room. We didn't go the way we had come as Tobi showed me to a room a door down and across the hall from Kisame's.

'This is Kasumi's new room!' Tobi exclaimed as I noticed it had been set up much the same as Kisame's was but mirrored and the furniture was a mahogany colour not oak like Kisame's was.

I tried my best to smile and thanked Tobi as the orange wearing masked man left. I went and sat on my bed, it was nearly the same as Kisame's but something was missing as another boom of thunder made me flinch.

Samehada. I had left it in the infirmary when I came over to Kisame's room. How the hell was I going to move it? I looked down at my arms as I gently removed the bandages noticing the ugly dark purple, green and yellow bruising that ran the lengths of them. Now I knew why they ached so badly as I put some healing chakra into my arms. It burned like no tomorrow as I mashed my teeth together to keep from shouting as the bruises mostly faded to yellows and greens and ached a little less.

I had to go find Samehada as I stepped out of my room silently and tiptoed past Kisame's and around the corner. It seemed that everyone had disappeared as another boom of thunder rattled the house. God I hate thunderstorms. I crossed my arms and headed back to the infirmary. It took me a few minutes to wind my way back through the corridors as I found the infirmary with a big red plus beside the door. I stepped into the little room to see it had already been cleaned up except for Samehada still set beside the bed.

As soon as I entered the room the sword made its customary friendly rain noise as I went over and grabbed it by the hilt. I pulled a massive amount of chakra into my arms as I hefted the sword and slung it across my back. My legs protested as I headed back to my own room.

It was funny having Samehada so close to me it seemed like the closer we got to Kisame the happier it seemed to get. I knew the sword would probably stab me or hurt me again if I didn't take it to Kisame right away. So I did as I stood outside of his room listening for a second. I couldn't detect any chakra signatures other than Kisame's as the next closest was Tobi, Deidara's and Zetsu's in the kitchen.

I entered the room to see Kisame sleeping peacefully if seeming somewhat annoyed in his sleep as I brought Samehada over to lean against his bed. The sword seemed utterly content as it fell silent and dormant as it seemed to pull chakra from me and Kisame.

I knew that stupid sword would go back to hating me. It had that kind of feeling to it, one of those use you then dump you kind of feeling. I left it there as there was a grumble from Kisame. I turned back to see two luminous golden eyes staring at me in the evening greyness that was cast in the room.

'You're alive' Kisame grunted as I nodded. He stared at me for another few minutes before looking at his splinted arm and wiggling his fingers. I was glad to see he was recovering quickly as I remembered that I shouldn't be staring.

I may have been semi accepted into the Akatsuki but I knew they all could still kill me instantly and I wouldn't even know I was dead until my head rolled from my shoulders.

I turned and left the room as I heard Kisame grunt something that sounded suspiciously like my name. I ignored him and stepped into the hall before hurrying to my room. For some reason I didn't want to be in the company of anyone at that minute as I flopped onto my couch and lay there sprawled face down in the soft cushion.

I hadn't had a bout of my usual psychotic depression in a few weeks as I guessed I was overdue as a crushing loneliness and exhaustion washed over me. How strange for this to come on when for the first time ever I had more people that were my acquaintances, albeit grudgingly, but still they were acquaintances in my life than ever before. My body ached terribly as I did my best to shut it out and lay there.

Life.

It had changed so drastically for me. It was a good change. I think. But… Dammit I honestly didn't understand most of the emotions that were running through me as I sat up and rubbed my face. The imprint of the fabric was bumpy all along my face until I hit the smooth rounded edges of my scar. I sighed and stood going to my dresser and digging through the drawers to find a pair of underwear and one of Kisame's shirts that obviously Tobi had stolen for me as I noticed my boots were sitting beside my desk. I had missed those as I noticed the buckle was still broken. That made me mad, they saved my clothes yet didn't both to repair them. Yep definitely in a house of men.

I headed to my shower to find it had a green frog shower curtain with little cartoon keropie like frogs and lily pads with flowers blooming along the trim as I laughed to myself. I took a few of the pain killing pills Tobi had left on the sink with a written note from Deidara telling me I had practice tomorrow with him and Kisame so said Leader.

Great I could have my ass handed to me by a one armed shark man and a blonde transvestite. I didn't honestly know what Deidara was, he; I assumed it was a he, could pass off either way. I turned on the shower and stepped under the hot spray as I realised all of the shampoos and such I had used were Kisame's and I had none.

There was a bar of soap as I shrugged and washed my hair and body with that and shaved my legs with a kunai. Really they were better than razors when it came down to it as I sat in the bottom of the tub and just let the hot water wash over my sore muscles. A bath was what I needed as I tossed the plug in the tub and let it fill up. The hot water felt amazing on all of the bruising as I floated there turning off the showerhead after the water was quite deep.

I sighed and just relaxed clearing my mind and trying to meditate. It was a handy technique I had picked up over the years when it came to dealing with stress as everything seemed to float away and my mind was blank, a light lavender colour, calm and completely zoned out.

Soon there was a little irritation at the back of my mind as I knew someone was trying to get my attention or talking to me as I pulled myself back into the real world blinking rapidly realising my bath water had gone cold.

'Hey Kasumi you dead?' I heard Kisame's gruff voice as I jumped out of the water, smacking my knee off of the rim in the process as I wrapped a towel around myself and pulled the plug on the water. I opened the door to see Kisame's hand posed ready to knock again as his hand made contact with my forehead instead of the door. I winced as he realised the door was open and I was standing there not the door as a light purple colour seemed to tint his cheeks as he noticed my lack of dress.

'yea?' I asked as immediately he was back into Akatsuki mode and fierce assassin as I looked down at the harsh gaze.

'Tobi said he couldn't get an answer from you and was worried so I came to see if you were alive' he said quietly as I nodded. Yes, don't let the newbie die because she was too tired.

'I fell asleep sorry' I said quietly as Kisame shifted his weight. Things had gone back to be awkward between the two of us. We were team mates and partners but after that flight it seemed we were more distant than before. I didn't know why as suddenly I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. I looked up confused as I saw a familiar Kisame smirk as he moved and ruffled my damp hair.

'Thanks Kasumi.' He laughed as I smiled at his warm baritone. That was the Kisame that I was comfortable around. The one that only peeked out every once in a while when it was just the two of us in a quiet room or on the road. It was a very different Kisame from the one the rest of the Akatsuki knew, even the world knew as I remembered what Kisame had said to me at the bar.

_I don't want to be a monster_

The words seemed to echo in my mind as I watched his gills move slightly as he removed his hand and turned and walked to the door.

'You're welcome Kisame.' I said quietly as he flashed me a grin. Kisame really was a big guy as he stooped a little to leave and turned slightly to get his shoulders through the door. No wonder all of the Akatsuki room doors were so large, poor Kisame had to fit through them without smacking himself in the face with the doorframe.

I sighed and flopped over onto my bed letting my towel just drape over myself as I'm sure my hair was soaking my covers.

Time was such a funny thing. I had really only been with the Akatsuki at most three weeks and it had felt like I had been here for most of my life. It was almost like the military life was washing away piece by piece like a faded dream.

'DEIDARA!!! YOU STOLE MY NAIL POLISH!!! GET YOUR BLONDE ASS OVER HERE!!!'

Hey, I said almost like a dream as I sat up and changed into my Pj's as my room door slammed open and Deidara ran into my room slamming the door closed behind him. His eyes were wide as I had just pulled Kisame's oversized shirt over my head.

'DEIDARA!!!' I snapped tugging the hem down to my knees to cover myself as he slapped a hand over his eyes.

'SORRY!!!!' he yelled tossing a little purple bottle at me before he ran across my room and jumped out my window. I looked at the tiny purple bottle of nail polish as my door slammed open a second time to see a boxer clad Hidan. He looked furious as I grabbed the hem of Kisame's shirt again.

'HIDAN!!!' I screamed as he slapped his hands over his ears and glared at me.

'FUCK WOMAN SHUT UP!!!' he roared as I fell silent and he grinned approaching me more like a tiger would a deer as I froze. Shit, this was bad. I held my ground as he came closer and closer. I hid the little bottle in my hand as he came to stand just two inches from me as I stood glaring into his eyes. I was not going to back down. My knees were about ready to give out in fear as he gently reached out and traced my jaw with his hands.

I flinched involuntarily as he laughed and grabbed my chin craning it up and pulling me flush against him as I struggled to get out of his grasp. NO NO NO NO NO!!!!

'Eh I like the feisty ones' he hissed in my ear as he ran his tongue along my cheek to my ear. It was utterly disgusting as I slammed my heal down on his instep. He hissed in pain as I managed to get an opposite reaction than I had expected as he grabbed my ass under my over sized shirt and pulled me against him. 'Disastrous move for you woman' he whispered lustily as I froze. Oh my god. He was going to rape me. I looked up at him as he was grinning like a maniac as he threw me onto my bed. My knees cracked off of the frame painfully as I fell face first onto the downy comforter as Hidan pinned me and bit my neck painfully.

'Stop!' I growled trying to fight him wanting nothing more than to castrate him as he easily overpowered me and ignored me. He bit again as I yelped in pain, the bastard had drawn blood!

'that's right' he chuckled as I looked at his crazed violet eyes 'scream for me bitch, SCREAM!' he roared as something sharp stabbed my side as I noticed he had pulled a shuriken seemingly out of no where. He wanted me to scream? Alright I drew in a lung full of air as he bit me again this time on my chest.

'KISAME!!!!!!! HELP! ME-' I roared as Hidan froze and slapped his hand over my mouth.

'You little bitch!' he spat as in the next instant Hidan was thrown through the wall, all that was left in its wake was a Hidan shaped hole and a very pissed off looking Kisame. I stared at the hole as Kisame seemed to be fighting whether or not to go and beat the shit out of Hidan as he stepped through the hole and I heard more than a few cracks from broken bones and different jutsu. I grabbed a pair of boxers and tossed them on before running to the kitchen.

I tried my hardest not to hyperventilate as I ran easily dodging around corners as I passed someone running to where the sounds of epic carnage and beating was coming from. I turned sharply and entered the kitchen as Kakuzu looked up from his paper mildly interested as to why I had run into the kitchen as Konan was sitting folding rose coloured piece of paper into elegant and complicated roses.

I had never talked with Konan but I knew it was she who had saved me from leaders wrath that day I had met him as she glanced at me piercing blue eyes meeting mine as she sighed and put one of the roses in her hair and stood.

'It seems Hidan needs to learn more manners' she muttered as Kakuzu looked over at her and gave a nod as she breezed from the room in the direction of my room. I went over to the bar stools and flopped onto one leaning my head onto my arms as rapid footsteps came sliding into the kitchen as it was quickly followed by another set.

'Shit Kasumi you're bleeding all over the place yea!' Deidara's voice was behind me as I shrugged sitting up and staring at the cupboards. I took a few deep breaths as I wondered why I was so upset by this. My puzzlement brought me back to my senses as I shook my head and hopped off of the stool. Deidara stared at me as I stuck my head in the fridge looking for a snack as I found some mint ice cream and began rummaging around the kitchen for a spoon.

'Is Kasumi alright?' Tobi chirped as Kakuzu went back to his paper and Zetsu whom I hadn't noticed originally was watching TV.

'Never better' I mumbled around a mouthful of ice cream as Itachi glided into the kitchen. I gave him a nod as he glanced at me and gave me a scorn filled look at my state of dress before he took up the other arm chair to watch whatever program Zetsu was watching.

'I think she's in shock yeah.' Deidara said to Tobi as I rolled my eyes and went to the empty end of the couch and curled up looking at what was on the TV. It was some kind of criminal report on recent activity being broadcast from Konoha. It was a report on the Akatsuki sighting just north of the border as I snickered into my ice cream. Stupid Konoha, so afraid of a direct attack thinking the Akatsuki was some kind of supreme force. Sure they were excellent ninja, if somewhat… odd, but they were still just people.

'After the recent attack on Fire country troops battling against stone the Hokage of Konoha has stepped up precautionary measures including more ANBU and jounin patrols.' The announcer reported as they rolled a tape taken from the air it seemed of the carnage of the day they had picked me up form the battle field. It looked like an ocean had swept into the area as random bodies floated on the surface amongst debris.

'A new report of the suspected dead head of combat medicine Medical Officer Kasumi Akahana has been reported as alive but as to where her location is has yet to be determined. The hokage fears that the Akatsuki may have taken her as either a hostage or she has joined the Akatsuki as another member. Any information on the whereabouts of this medical officer please contact this number' I scowled at the TV as they showed a picture from back when I had joined the military at age 14. It looked drastically different from me now as I was glad I had blatantly neglected to get my photo retaken for any of my badges within the past 12 years.

'That's pretty pathetic. It looks nothing like you' Kakuzu mumbled flipping another page of his newspaper. I took another bite of ice cream and shrugged.

'Haven't bothered to get my photo taken in 12 years, That's me at 14 when I joined the military.' I said around the mouthful of ice cream as Itachi glanced at me.

'You're smart to not have you photo taken within the last 10 years' he said coldly as I looked at the emotionless Uchiha prodigy. Did Itachi just compliment me in a very round about way? I wasn't sure as I went back to my ice cream and Zetsu changed the channel. I heard Kisame's heavy footsteps as Itachi stood fluidly and glided over to where his partner rounded the corner of the kitchen.

'He alive?' Itachi muttered.

'Barely, even for an immortal I fucked him up pretty nicely' Kisame grumbled crossing to take Itachi's now vacated chair as he dropped into it making the springs groan under the pressure. Zetsu looked over at Kisame who was staring blankly at the TV with an irritated expression as I continued eating my rapidly melting ice cream.

'You had a fight with Hidan, Kisame?' Zetsu's pleasant side asked as Kisame sighed and glanced over at the plant man on the other side of the couch.

'Yes, Hidan needs to learn…. Some manners' Kisame said rather bitterly as Zetsu's black half left.

'Yes, he touched the woman. I suggest we eat him' the black side seemed to cackle as the white side sighed.

'No we can eat Hidan. That bastard would give us indigestion plus Kisame already ripped him limb from limb it'll take him a while to find all of his body parts' the white side seemed rather bored by the fact as my jaw dropped and I looked between Kisame and Zetsu. Was he serious? He RIPPED Hidan limb from limb? If that was the truth I had to go help him; it was my job after all right?

'Calm down Woman, that religious bastard is fine. Just inconvenienced currently at having to try to find all of his limbs and reattach himself together' Kakuzu mumbled his face buried in his newspaper as Zetsu chuckled.

'Want to go watch the bastard flail around?' his black side cackled as he stood.

'I don't really have much of a choice do I?' the white half mumbled as Zetsu tossed Kisame the remote and sunk through the floorboards and disappeared. Kisame turned on some mindless cartoon as he moved from the armchair to the couch as I set my now empty ice cream container on the floor. Nothing was said as we watched TV for a bit as Kakuzu finished whatever he was reading a left leaving me and Kisame watching TV as Tobi and Deidara had gone to laugh at Hidan or whatever it was that those two did.

It was quiet in the kitchen as the TV continued to prattle on as a fat yellow man was strangling his on for some reason or other as Kisame shifted on the couch.

'Kasumi are you alright?' he asked as I heard the strain in his voice. He was trying to keep his temper from getting the best of him as I glanced at him. He wasn't looking at me but staring through the TV as if it had told him his mother was a harlot.

'I'm fine Kisame really.' I said calmly and looked at him as he closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. I knew that rage was just begging to be unleashed as I remembered the unbearable rage I had had when wielding Samehada with the tracker.

Was that the kind of anger that was common for Kisame?

I put my hand on his arm as he glanced down at it as his eyebrows nearly met in his confusion to my action. I gave him my best attempt at a smile as he stared at me in utter confusion.

'I'm alright. A little bruised and bloody but he didn't do anything drastic that you didn't beat the crap out of him for. Thanks for the by the way' I said laughing a little at a cartoon image of Kisame punting Hidan through a pair of football goalposts.

'Hey kasumi… uh…' he trailed off as I turned back to him from the TV as he had turned a nice shade of purple once again. What was up with him? I blinked and waited as he turned back to the TV and seemingly ignored me as I shook my head and returned to the TV. The show ended as another episode came on and Kisame didn't say anything.

'Uh… kasumi would you ever consider-' Kisame started as suddenly I was staring at a bright Orange mask in my face.

'KASUMI!!!!!!!!!! SEMPAI JUST TOLD TOBI THAT KASUMI HASN'T HAD HER MANICURE OF PEDICURE FOR THE AKATSUKI YET!!!!' Tobi hollered in my face as I threw myself back away from the exuberant young man as all I saw was orange and his wild array of chestnut coloured hair.

'Tobi stop bothering her yea!' Deidara exclaimed as I assumed Kisame hauled Tobi out of our laps and dumped him on the floor. I assumed Tobi looked upset as he crossed his arms and took on a pouting stance.

' But Sempaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai!!!' Tobi wailed as Deidara threw his hands in the air and stomped into the kitchen mumbling about his partner as Tobi perked up and grabbed my foot grabbing a nail file out of no where as well as a set of soaps and a bowl of water. I blinked, honestly was Tobi a ninja or a wizard?

Kisame was now looking thoroughly irritated as Deidara stuck his head around the cabinetry with a popsicle hanging out of his face. I think he noticed Kisame's dangerous look as Tobi was now soaking my feet and my hand in rose scented water.

Did everyone have to go through this torture or only me?

I looked at Kisame and Deidara begging them to help me as they both laughed at me. I glared as Kisame stuck his hand in my face.

'Hey you have to suffer through it like the rest of us' he chuckled as Deidara pouted and stood at the arm of the couch popsicle in hand.

'Speak for yourself yea. I actually don't mind them they get the clay out really well yea' he huffed as Kisame raised an eyebrow and Tobi squeaked a giggle.

'Sempai is more of a girl then Kasumi is!' he giggled as we all had a laugh at that and Deidara looked miffed before having another lick of his popsicle and left the kitchen his blonde ponytail swinging happily despite his anger. It was times like this that made me forget they were all serial killers. As Tobi moved onto filing away at my feet and rubbing them with cream I kicked him more than once for tickling me. Once I nearly removed his mask if he hadn't caught it and held it in place in time.

He didn't seem too bothered by it as he painted my toenails a dark nearly black purple then moved onto my hands. I sighed and just let the torture continue as Tobi poked and prodded my hands before putting on a coat of the same dark nail polish.

'Explain to me again why I need this?' I asked shoving my newly painted and manicured hand in Kisame's face. He leant away from me and shrugged flipping through TV channels as I sighed and looked back at Tobi. I knew it was better to just let it go then to pester the Akatsuki. I stifled a yawn as Tobi did another coat on my feet and nails before putting on a clear coat. Honestly I didn't know the first thing to makeup as Tobi was clearly the man to go to for nail polish. Deidara would probably also do my nails but he seemed more fussy when it came to anything dealing with vanity.

Tobi finished and danced off with all of his tools as I sighed and stood, taking my now empty carton of ice cream to the sink. I heard the couch springs squeak as Kisame got off of the couch and stood on the far side of the bar as I remembered he was trying to tell me something before Tobi rushed in.

'Hey Kisame, what were you trying to say earlier?' I asked turning around to set the washed container into the recycling as he seemed stunned for a sec before looking at his hand that was holding onto the edge of the marble bar surface. I waited as Kisame was taking a while to answer, I wonder what was so hard for him to ask or talk about. I mean, yea the last mission was pretty much a complete failure in more ways than one but it wasn't that I sucked that badly. Maybe I had to have another meeting with leader. I cringed at that as my legs decided to remind me that they were still recovering and tired.

'Kisame?' I asked as I stepped closer to him. He jerked his head up to look at me and gave me a flash of a smile as I touched his arm.

'It's nothing! I was just wondering if Samehada had hurt you at all when you carried it back here' he said quickly. I knew he was lying to my face but I decided to let it go. Sometimes some things were best not said as I sighed.

'Yea just some cuts on my back nothing really serious' I said as he nodded and I took that as my cue to leave. 'well goodnight Kisame' I muttered and headed back to my room.

'night' I heard quietly as I headed to my room and straight to my bed. I knew Itachi would want to train as soon as the sun was up as I rolled over and immediately fell asleep.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame sighed to himself and ran a hand through his hair before going to the cupboard and pulling out some brandy and filling a glass as he sat down at the bar and took a swig. Dammit that woman! He ran a hand through his hair again in his frustration as Itachi came back into the kitchen.

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow at the obviously irate shark nin and came to sit across from him. He didn't say anything as Kisame stared at the liquid in his glass as he swirled it in little circles making the amber liquid make a whirlpool.

'this is about that woman isn't it' Itachi's voice was silky smooth as Kisame sighed and nodded. Itachi glanced toward the doorway as Kisame took another sip of his drink. Honestly Kisame didn't know what to think anymore, man he had made himself look like an idiot too. Not to mention the fact that he was more than sure that she knew he was lying about the comment about Samehada.

He was actually more impressed at kasumi's abilities after he had had a chance to talk with Samehada. It was less talking and more a reading of chakra to create images within himself that the sword had the ability to do only with him. She had managed to swing that sword to defend herself in the heat of battle. It took a great deal of guts to attack in a seemingly uneven fight especially with her as the lesser ninja.

He took another swig of brandy as the warm liquid made the back of his throat buzz for a second before it was gone and Itachi's stare returned to him. The feelings that he was having lately were the exact same he had had for Mizu all those years ago. He honestly didn't want to follow that same disastrous path again as the glass groaned under the strain he was putting on it as he fought to reign in his irritation at the amount of emotion that was running through him.

'I haven't seen you this emotional since we went to Her grave' Itachi muttered as Kisame shot Itachi a glare that was filled with warning. The Uchiha met his partners stare evenly as Kisame sighed and put his head on the bar top.

'Fuck Itachi. You know her body was never found. Besides, what am I going to do?' he mumbled as Itachi shifted on his chair. In all honesty Itachi was quite intrigued at the connection between the shark nin and the little medic. The duo were such a strange pairing it mused him endlessly to see the short round medic glaring at any of the other Akatsuki members including himself. But he had to wonder if anything were to happen to the medic Kisame would be devastated especially after loosing Mizu all those years ago.

Itachi knew that Kisame really wasn't as brutal as he made himself out to be. He had rage issues but he was definitely much more polite and well mannered than even he was. Itachi stood and glanced at his partner.

'It'd be better to not say anything Kisame. We are an organization and she is merely a tool to us. Good night.' And with that Itachi walked away and Kisame gave a low growl that rattled the dishes in the cupboards. He knew what Itachi said was true and it stung. Plus, he didn't even know if Kasumi was even interested in a monster like him. Who would be? Freakish bloodline limit, looking like a monster from the deep only for the benefit of making all of his water jutsu that much stronger. It really wasn't worth it.

He ran his fingers over his gills, they weren't really gills but they acted very similar to them with chakra. Until then they were just flap of skin really as he downed the last of the glass. He needed more sleep as he stood and slumped back to his room.

Kasumi had done well on his arm, with his fast healing he'd be able to train her in the morning without fear of dislocating his shoulder again. Turning the corner he heard the familiar whimpering of the beginning of Kasumi's usual nightmares. Silently he stepped over and slid open the door. Unlocked. He rolled his eyes at her simple trust of them even after Hidan had nearly raped her as he saw her thrash around in her sleep. He always wondered about her nightmares, what could she have possibly seen to cause these terrors ever night consecutively as he gently touched her shoulder and brushed her hair back from her face. She grabbed his forearms as he sat on the side of the bed and continued to brush her cold damp hair from her face.

Slowly she settled down into a more peaceful sleep as her hand slid down to rest gently against the one he had on her shoulder as she breathed a sigh.

'Kisame'

He blinked and looked around the room. No one was there as he realised it was kasumi who had said it as she grabbed him hand in her sleep and rolled over cradling it against her chest.

Kisame blinked as he realised here his hands were and could feel a vicious blush rising in his face. Oh shit, what had he managed to get himself into now. Gently he tried to remove his hand from her grasp as she clenched it tighter burying his hand further into her chest. He put a hand to his forehead as the splints groaned from the movement.

He had two choices at this point. One, wake kasumi up by grabbing his hand back and trying to book it out of here as fast as possible and make everything REALLY awkward. Or, he could lie down beside her and it would still be awkward when she woke up but if he said it had been the nightmare issue and that Deidara had bitched as he usually did then it wouldn't be as bad.

Option two was sounding better and better as kasumi rolled over and tugged him over onto the bed more never relenting her grip on his hand. She had a pretty good grip for a girl recovering from severe muscle damage in her arms. Kasumi sighed as he shifted so that his left arm was lying across his chest and kasumi still had his hand clenched against her chest.

Well, this was going to be a long night. Kisame sighed and closed his eyes praying that he'd get at least some sleep before Itachi came to haul Kasumi out for training at dawn.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	13. Waves and Icha Icha

**HEY EVERYONE!!! yes i know LE GASP its a note from the author! but anywho I'm putting this out here for everyone to know but I ahve a deviantart account that I have sketches of Kasumi and various funny random moments I've cartooned. My name is x-tao-girl-x on deviantart and if you want to start with a search I suggest looking up 'Akatsuki Mosh' and it should bring you to my page :) thanks again everyone you are an amazing group of people! Now, ON with the story!!!!..................... **

Someone shook me awake as I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The room was a light grey colour from the sun just peaking over the horizon as two golden orbs stared into mine.

'You awake?' I nodded as my brain finally engaged enough to realise Kisame was sitting at the end of my bed with no shirt as I flopped back onto my pillows wanting nothing more than to curl up and surrender to the realm of dreams. 'Oh no, you have training with Itachi' Kisame laughed as my covers were ripped off and a large hand grabbed my ankle.

'what are you doing?' I asked as in one fluid move he dragged me to the end of the bed as my shirt rumpled up rather uncomfortably. 'what was that for?' I snapped wrestling with my shirt. I was more than sure Kisame didn't want to see my stomach pudge as he laughed.

'Woke you up didn't it?' he said standing and stretching as I couldn't help but gawk at the ripple his muscles across his back made as he scratched his head making his unruly hair stick out in every direction as I sat up and immediately reached back for the bottle of ibuprofen on my desk.

'Kisame. Put on a shirt' I heard Itachi's smooth voice as Kisame sighed and tugged his Akatsuki cloak on leaving the front open as Itachi shot him an irritated glance. I sat up straight as Itachi looked at me. 'Five minutes outside of the kitchen' he commanded before sweeping out of the room. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and sighed through my teeth. Kisame looked at me as he flopped down on my couch.

'He's a bit of a bully ne?' I commented going to my dresser and pulling out a standard pair of pants and my chakra tunic as Kisame didn't reply. I glanced at him as he seemed lost in thought and I pressed on to get dressed finding underwear and my broken boots. I picked up my kunai holster and a bunch of weapons as I noticed one of my kunai was sitting on the couch beside Kisame.

I grabbed it as I felt his stare shift from the window to me.

'we all have reasons as to the way we are Kasumi' he said calmly as I met his gaze levelly.

'I know, but I still can state the obvious' I said before closing the bathroom door and changing. I was out in record time as my broken buckle clicked with every step. Kisame was still on my couch as I walked past him. 'are you coming to watch?' I asked as Kisame stood.

'No I want more sleep' he laughed as I shot him an annoyed glare as he shoved me out of my room and closed the door behind himself. 'I should've told you to wear lightweight clothes. Sorry' he said cryptically before disappearing into his room. I stared at his door, lightweight clothing what for? I shrugged it off and met Itachi one minute early as he nodded and turned walking out through the kitchen door.

'Kasumi!' Tobi jumped me and stuffed a wedge of toast in my mouth as I nodded in thanks and followed Itachi. He was already halfway across the lawn as I jogged to catch up. I had my Konoha forehead protector wrapped around my neck today for some reason. It felt odd seeing as I had nearly never worn it. It reminded me of dog tags, a way of identifying a dead body as I remembered the inscription of my name, rank, date of birth, blood type, and city was written on the back of the little slab of cold steel.

Itachi dragged me out to a large calm river as I realised what he was going to get me to do, the bastard.

'First.' He didn't say anything as I saw a blur as I jumped out of the way but not before I heard a screech of metal on metal before I landed in a tree about 20 meters from Itachi. I had to admit he was incredibly fast as I glanced down to my neck. A huge jagged gash ran across my forehead protector as I looked at him. That's when I noticed his had the same gash through it.

A gust of wind blew through the clearing as Itachi's sharingans spun to life and I hopped out of the tree. He stared at me levelly as I waited patiently. Itachi was a good teacher for patience he never did anything until he wanted to do them.

'Go stand on the water' he told me as I stared at him. Stand on water? I wasn't freaking Jesus! I couldn't walk on water. My expression must've given away my frustration as he looked at me. 'focus your chakra into your feet and keep an even balance to keep from sinking.' He said as I nodded and headed over to the waters edge. Easy right?

I focused my chakra and took a tentative step, then another, then another until I hit the current. My foot sunk about an inch under the surface as I felt something strike the back of my head.

'What the-?!' I snapped loosing my concentration and falling into the cold liquid. I looked to see Itachi smirking on the bank a few decent sized rocks in his hand as he gently bounced them.

'continue' he said plainly as I growled and stood in the knee deep water and skulked back to shore. I wasn't here five minutes and already he was beating me with rocks. Bastard. I shucked off my boots and my pants standing in my tunic and boxers as I started again this time remembering to adjust my chakra for the current and keeping an ear out for Itachi's rocks.

I hit the trouble spot once again as I heard Itachi pitch the rock as my right arm. I dodged quickly remembering to adjust my chakra in my feet as my right one sunk about two inches. Another rock came at my left foot as I jumped and had to spin to block another as I forgot to add more chakra to my feet to counter the extra weight created by my jumping ending in.

Me falling in.

I came up spluttering only to be hit in the head with a rock.

'OW FUCK THAT HURT!' I roared as Itachi simply stood tossing a rock and was now holding a bamboo pole. I glared at the Uchiha as he seemed completely smug as I swam back to shore. I stood on the bank as I glanced toward the house. It seemed that I was popular as a group had gathered on the back deck watching me and my epic failure of standing on water.

I tried again walking backwards this time to make sure I could see whatever Itachi was going to throw at me as Itachi smirked at me. I was in the middle of the river when he threw the bamboo pole at me. I caught it as I immediately heard a rock flying at me. I knocked it away with the pole as two more came.

Great, what a wonderful training exercise. I was hit more than once by the little objects and fell in as a result of loosing concentration because of the pain.

'Don't loose concentration because you're in pain. It's weak and pathetic of a medic of any standards' Itachi snapped after he hit me just above the eye with a lime sized rock. I growled at him and grabbed my pole and stomped back out onto the water. The adjustment was becoming second nature after falling in so many times but the problem was keeping focused and calculating just how much chakra I had to adjust with dramatic movements.

I noticed the current of the river had picked up as I used more chakra to keep steady as Itachi unleashed a hoard of rocks at me. I duck dodged and blocked like crazy as I saw him step out onto the water. I retreated from him as he ran around me still throwing rocks. I had no idea where he was pulling them from as suddenly he switched to shuriken as one embedded itself in my bamboo pole.

I ducked the next one as I felt the waters pace increase more. I looked down to see I was nearly running on rapids as where Itachi was seemed abnormally calm. I jumped as there was a loud rushing noise as Itachi threw a rock at me. I made to dodge but at the last second brought the pole down smacking the rock straight back and pegging the Uchiha right between the eyes.

There was a splash as I landed and turned to see a shark made completely out of water rush out of nowhere. I ran for the bank as another rock clipped my hip and I turned to jump a shuriken whistling from my left as I blocked and jumped.

I spun the pole as it cut through the shark with no damage as I was swamped and rolled end over end in the seemingly endless current. I smacked my head off of debris on the bottom as finally the current died and I swam to the surface.

Sweet sweet air! I gasped as a good half a litre of water poured out my nose and mouth from my wonderful underwater adventure. I swam over to the bank where Kisame was grinning holding Samehada and Deidara and Tobi were pulling a sodden Itachi from the river as I staggered onto the bank.

'Good work Kisame!' Hidan cheered as I looked up at Kisame.

'Did you cause that water shark?' I asked incredulously as he was grinning.

'yea it was a good one wasn't it!' he laughed as I glared at him. Kisame had nearly killed me! I glared at him and immediately his good humour vanished. 'What's wrong? I was just helping you train and keep you senses sharp' he said as I stomped over to where he was and shoved his chest.

'Help? HELP?! YOU NEARLY FUCKING DROWN ME!' I roared as a few birds took off from a neighbouring tree. Kisame looked a little irritated as I glared at him.

'Well you didn't and that's they type of thing that you'd face in a real fight kasumi' He snapped as I glared at him.

'This wasn't a real fight Kisame it was TRAINING. You're not supposed to unleash forbidden jutsu on training ninja!' I snipped as he glared at me.

'This is Akatsuki Kasumi. We do use forbidden jutsu on you ninja because that's how we are still alive' he bit as I glared at him.

'Are you fucking thick?! I'm not a Jonin. I'm barely passable as a chunin, why in the god damn seven hells would you do something like that!' I was now on my tiptoes and Glaring in his face as best I could.

'Because you need to see a real fight in training to know how to react if the situation arises with enemy ninja.' He said as I rolled my eyes.

'Yes that's true but you see, NO one on the world is as good as the Akatsuki, so there in I would have to fight one of you in the so called real world to understand my training. And you know what Kisame, IM NOT FIGHTING YOU IN THE REAL WORLD NOW AM I?!' I screamed in his face as I saw the rage flare up behind his eyes and knew I had crossed a line as Itachi stepped in.

'Kisame' he said quietly as I looked between the two.

'No Itachi, I'll leave. I don't even have a real right to be here.' I said marching over to grab my boots before marching across the back garden ignoring Hidan's cat call and straight into the house.

I was pissed.

He had nearly drowned me! What the hell was going through his mind to pull such a strong jutsu on someone who was just barely accustomed to standing on water let alone hopping and running and jumping all over the place to avoid stones and shuriken with a little bamboo pole. No let's make this harder and nearly drown her. Great fucking idea!

I stomped around a corner and found myself at the library. It was the next best thing to a punching bag as I stomped inside. It was empty as I pulled the curtains open and started browsing the sections. I was fuming. That idiot! I wasn't sure what disturbed me more, his careless attitude at nearly drowning me or his insistence that I needed that type of training to prevent myself from dying. Either way the situation ended with me nearly dying or dying in any case.

I noticed I had come to the older sections of scrolls that had seen better days judging by their frayed edges as I moved away from the information documents to a cheery stack of bright orange books sitting on a reserved looking shelf. There was a mass of them ranging in different colours from hot pink, neon orange, electric blue, acid green, and a white one as I grabbed the first which happened to be the neon orange book.

'make out Paradise.' I mumbled looking at the cover of an obvious adult romance novel. Honestly, was this the kind of crap these guys read? I held onto the book and searched for anything, anything else that was readable. There were a few fantasy novels that looked rather dull and a well worn book on Jashinism with a few other volumes about the subject tucked to its side. It seemed that there really wasn't much other than information in here as I plopped into the worn leather armchair and began reading the romance novel.

Honestly it was more to take my mind off of my irritation with Kisame. I'd be over it in a few hours if I just let it go slowly and kept my mind off of it. I was an odd person that way, as much as I hated people I could seemingly forgive them just by forgetting about situations. In all honesty most things weren't that important in the grand scheme of life as I dove into the realm of Make out paradise.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

'Good job fucktard yea.' Deidara snapped planting his hands on his slim hips as Kisame shot him a very dark glare that had even Hidan re-evaluating his opinion about how dangerous Kisame could be. Itachi was seemingly dry as he came to stand beside the fuming Kisame as Sasori marched across the lawn.

'well, she's pissed' Sasori mumbled as he proceeded to drag the irritating blonde terrorist away from the overly homicidal Kisame before Deidara had to have his arms sewn back onto his body by Kasumi, Kakuzu and himself.

Kisame wanted to hurt something. He was angry that Kasumi couldn't see the practicality in what he had done. Sure it was a very advanced technique but that was the type of battle she would face being one of the Akatsuki. He had only the best intention of helping her train as Itachi bumped Kisame's shoulder relatively unnoticeable to the untrained eye as Kisame looked at his partner.

'She isn't mad at you. You frightened her is all. She'll be fine in a few hours' Itachi muttered his cloak masking any movement from his mouth as Kisame nodded. Still, he wanted to punch a wall in or something as his anger seemed to surge at the thought of Kasumi roaring in his face about fighting him. God, she was so IRRITATING! And stubborn!

'MAKE IT UP TO HER YEA!' Deidara yelled as Sasori decked the blonde man before slamming the kitchen door closed. Itachi glanced up at Kisame as the shark man seemed reluctant to do anything for the kunoichi at this point.

Now Itachi was also a man who knew virtually nothing about women. Only being 17 and never having had a girlfriend he had no idea what to tell Kisame. But he knew he didn't like the fact that Kisame was so attached to her, as were a few of the other Akatsuki. But then again, he was fond of Kisame which was more than he could say for any of the other members. He didn't enjoy seeing Kisame miserable as he did with the others. The others were just a minor amusement but Kisame had merit for staying with his despite all of his oddities.

'Talk to her after supper. I suggest bringing a peace offering' he said quietly as Kisame stared at the Uchiha. Had Itachi just told him to actively reach out and give kasumi a gift to forgive him? Maybe that smack to the head with the rock that Kasumi had given him had rattled his brains or given him a concussion. Itachi didn't say anything more as he took his leave and went into the hideout leaving a few confused and somewhat rattled shark ninja behind on the dampened lawn.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was funny. It turned out that Make Out Paradise wasn't that bad of a book once you managed to get around the smutty parts. The plot line was decent and even had me laughing to myself more than once at its ridiculousness. I turned the page as the next chapter caught me by surprise, it was a small part written about the hero's past as I realised how close it was to my own before my parents tossed me out.

'_Kasumi why cant you just be a good student. We don't ask that much of you. We don't want you out getting a job or not give you any money and we don't even give you chores. All we ask is that you pull down a solid 80 average. Is it THAT hard?' my mother stood glaring at me as I sighed holding my solid B average report card in my hands. I had yet to go into the ninja academy at 14 wanting to study to become a teacher. I never thought about ever becoming a ninja or working for Konoha. _

_Mother was never pleased with me. She had worked hard her entire life to get where she was now. Miserable and tired and getting close to fifty still working as an elite surgeon at a facility she hated. She knew that hard work was the way to get everything done, work and blood and tears. I wasn't a lazy student, I tried hard I really did but other things always seemed to attract my attention and I'd loose interest in my studies to day dream or draw. _

'_God Dammit Kasumi! How are you ever going to get into university or a job with grades like these? What did I do to get such a lazy daughter?! I hope that some day you grow up and realise that its not all fun and games Kasumi. The real world is hard and you're in for a slap when you realise that. Dear god you're in for a smack' she ranted as I sighed and set the manila slip of paper on the kitchen table. 'Don't put that there! It'll get grease all over it and look terrible and we'll seem like slobs with butter stain on the paper that you have to hand back!' she snapped as I ignored her. It was always the same thing. I wasn't trying hard enough, I didn't push myself hard enough. I was a smart girl why didn't I use that brain power? _

'_Is your father home yet?' she yelled as I mounted the stairs. I wished father was home. My dad was more laid back and thought that as long as I understood the general gist of things and excelled in what I loved then there was no problem. The front door creaked open to see Dad standing there looking utterly exhausted. _

_Dad was a field surgeon for animals. Familiars of the military men and women and a few of the ninja such as the Inuzuka family were the patients my father dealt with as he hung up his coat and slipped off his shoes heading for the couch. Mother had already started as he looked at me and tried to calm down his wife. _

_Honestly, I hated home. I was never good enough. Didn't try hard enough. _

_Sadly I was never able to go to university as I was pulled out of school to be trained as a medic and a ninja because of my parent's fields of work. Mother thought this was a great thing and father was quite upset. I think mother saw it as her retribution and things only became worse when I started working in the field. _

_I saw more horrors than any 14 year old should. People dying in agony, psychosis, seas of dead bodies. Piles of white sheets covering charred and mutated bodies. At one point I receded into myself and mother did not like it one bit. I flunked out of school and continued working as a field medic because Konoha said I couldn't leave. I was stationed on Kakashi's squad. That was what kept me going through all those years. Through mothers scorn and father's worry. Father really was torn, he hated seeing me in so much agony but never said anything as mother screeched and screamed at me for my now wicked temper and refusal to come home some nights or just blatantly ignoring her. _

'_KASUMI!!! I TOLD YOU, YOU WERE THROWING YOUR LIFE AWAY BUT YOU NEVER LISTENED TO ME!' My mother screeched at me as I turned on her. I had finally had enough by my 18__th__ birthday. That had been the worst year ever. Kakashi left for ANBU without a goodbye, Sensei had died a few months prior and Rin had gone missing after an ambush in Sand country and was presumed dead, and I was left stuck in a dead ended job that I hated. I had come home just to remind them their only daughter was still alive only to be greeted with more screeching after she had been notified that I was not going to university and was to be kept in the Konoha military as a field medic. 'YOU SHOULD HAVE WORKED HARDER, YOU SHOULD HAVE ACTUALLY LISTENED TO ME!' she hollered as I stood in the same kitchen and listened to the same shit for 10 years since we moved to Konoha from rain country. _

'_Yes I should have done many things mother. But this I didn't have a choice the Hokage said I stay in the medic job. I don't have a choice unless I want to be put to death under the threat of treason.' I said as she scoffed at me. _

'_A likely story. You always were good at those spending all of your free time writing them and drawing and not doing your studies!' she snapped as I looked at my father. He was looking older and older everyday now. I felt bad for the poor man, I loved my father dearly he was close to me as I sighed and picked up the bags I had packed all of my things in. _

'_Well then you don't have to hear about my stories anymore. Good bye mother. Bye dad. If Hatake drops in, tell him I left for hell. He'll understand' I gave Dad a hug as my mother started her litany of 'where are you going?', 'you have no place to go!', 'I'm very disappointed in you' and many other parental attempts to bring me back. I had had enough as I slammed the door behind me for good measure. _

I sighed. Life had been hard after that. No money, no home, no friends, a disgraced name by leaving home and not finishing school, fighting for every ounce of respect in a testosterone ocean of chauvinistic pigs in the military.

But every time I thought back to my mother it made tears well in my eyes. Dad had told me it had just been concern for me but that wasn't concern. It was me being unfitting in her eyes. I was happy, carefree and mother was not she was burdened and hardened by how hard her life had been to get where she was. She really did think that I wasn't good enough, that I was lazy, that I would scrounge for everything, that I was her worst failure.

Harsh. But I knew that was the truth.

I wondered how my father was. I hadn't seen him since my 19th birthday when he had brought me a small vanilla cake because he knew it was my favourite. Mother had refused to see her failure and disgrace. I didn't even know if she was still alive or not. Of course these weren't my real parents. These were merely my godparents good people who had been my late parents closest friends that thought they were being 'kind' and 'caring' by taking the distraught little girl into their warm home. How wrong they were.

I pulled my knees to me and put my face in them. I didn't cry anymore, I hadn't cried after my 15th birthday when Kabuto struck me for being a 'weak female' when a boy barely older than me had told me to tell his mother and little sister that he loved them and he would see them again someday.

I hated times like these where it felt like a black hole had opened in me and was trying to pull me in. Dear god I hated it. I felt like I was the loneliest person in the world at that moment as I heard a floorboard squeak. I jerked my head up to see Kisame standing peeking out from around one of the bookshelves. I stared at him as he gave a sheepish grin and came out from his hiding place.

'Supper is ready' he jerked his thumb over his shoulder as I nodded and picked up the book from where it had fallen off of the arm of the chair and pocketed it. Kisame was staring at me weirdly as I walked past him and into the hall. I felt rather robotic as I walked toward the smell of warm food and the low rumble of male voices.

I entered the kitchen and no one seemed to notice as I took my usual seat between Deidara and Kisame. There was a bowl of noodles with some kind of sauce and vegetables in it as Kisame sat down beside me. We didn't say anything as we passed Sake, water and some type of pink juice that Hidan seemed to drink the most of.

The stir fry was spicy as I found the pink drink seemed to take the burning sensation out of my mouth. I liked spicy food but this was just over the top as Deidara seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly and added a black sauce that everyone else avoided like the plague. I assumed it was super spicy as Deidara elbowed me as I was chewing on a snow pea.

'How do you like my volcanic stir fry yea?' he asked as I gave a thumbs up. I really wasn't all that hungry even after having eaten virtually nothing all day as I picked at my food and stirred it around making it look like I had eaten most of it. I could feel Kisame staring at me but I ignored him as Deidara was goading me into trying the black sauce.

'No, thank you Deidara' I said quietly but my ever present underlying anger was there making me sound more like Itachi than I thought possible as Deidara didn't ask again. The table seemed more sullen after that as I stood thanked Deidara for supper and put my plate by the sink before heading to my room. I really didn't want to piss off the others so the best thing for me to do was leave and have my depressed mood somewhere that I couldn't bother the others.

I passed the corridor that led to the training field as I shrugged. I was pathetic as it was, I might as well try my fail techniques and try to get them as failtacular as I could manage. I stepped out onto the pitted and pock marked soil as I noticed it was still windy from the storm a few days ago but the rain and lightning had backed off.

A set of wooden logs stood at the end of the area as I remembered an old test from when I had been in Kakashi's squad. Balanced my chakra and ran up the log so that I was standing on the top of it as I jumped from one log to the next each time I had to balance my chakra so that less off my foot was touching the log. By the end to goal was to have the balls of your feet just barely touch the log.

Kakashi had told me it was the closest humans came to flying as I hopped over the logs again and again. It was virtually useless to train alone unless it was a jutsu as I sat down on the highest log. I knew I had an affinity for water jutsu as I remembered the feel of Kisame's shark jutsu as I built my chakra up to the feel.

But suddenly I realised I didn't know the seals to his jutsu. Well, trial and error I guess as I put my hands from the dragon to the boar to the rabbit. Instantly I felt a huge rush from my feet as I looked down to realise I had managed to flood the training area.

Oops.

Well I knew those seals worked now for swamping an area with water as I wondered how to get it to vanish. Hunh. I really was a pretty useless ninja as I stared at all of the random debris now floating in the three feet of water. Itachi was not going to be happy that I had destroyed the deck as I winced imagining the training I would have to endure to make up for this. Well all I could really do was carry on.

I tried something new as I used my normal mist jutsu. The entire area became foggy as I felt my tendrils of chakra net within the particles as I pulled it tighter and tighter until the mist became viscous like syrup and seemed to stick and squeeze my sink. It was difficult to keep a hold on it as I let it go to find myself panting because of the exertion.

I needed to figure out a cool attack jutsu as I looked at the water. I had learnt basic chakra manipulation as I wondered how I could pull water into it somehow. Then a thought came to me. The molecular structure of water was hydrogen and oxygen. Both were extremely combustible as I scooped a handful of water from the pond I had created. I pushed the water into mist as I put my usual chakra net into the little cloud and refined my net. I concentrated on refining my net smaller and smaller and smaller. Now how was I going to get the entire combustion going if I had nothing to start it as I nearly smacked myself for forgetting the most basic flame attack that even academy children knew.

I put my opposite into the tiger and waited until I felt the familiar warmth grow in my chest until it blew out and a pathetically small jet of flame blew out and into the little cloud. The reaction made me jump as the entire thing went off like a segment of Chinese fire crackers making me jump to my feet.

'Well done.' Kisame's baritone made me whirl around as I lost my balance, tipped off the log and did a weird half cartwheel and landed standing on the water's surface my heart pounding.

'shit, you scared me' I gasped as he rubbed the back of his neck.

'my bad.' He grumbled as I stood there waiting. Flat water was so much easier to stand on as Kisame stepped out on the surface as he walked over to stand just in front of me. I waited as he stared at me for a second before he seemed to remember something. 'uh.. right… here' he said pulling out something wrapped in leather from his cloak.

I took the wrapped item from him as I noticed it was heavier than first thought. He took a step back immediately after I had the present as he glanced down at the water under his feet as if it was intensely interesting. I guessed he was just nervous about giving me a gift as I opened it to see a set of throwing daggers gleaming in the late evening light. They were simple black handles and a slender blade that looked like it was tinted a dark blue as I felt a pull from them. They were chakra absorbers as I let the little items take in some of my chakra and they seemed to nearly have a consciousness as they immediately gave me a warm backflow of peaceful chakra.

How strange.

I looked at the weapons and turned them over and over in my hands before putting the holster around my hips just under my shirt for easy access if I needed them in a fight.

'Thank you Kisame' I tried my best to sound friendly as he glanced up at me. His eyes were guarded as always as he gave a nod and turned on his heel.

'you're welcome' he muttered and strode back into the house as I jumped back to my pole. Now, to figure out that stupid jutsu I was working on. I created the mist again and spread out my chakra trying to make it so utterly thin it was undetectable as my other hand sat in the Tiger seal and let my chakra net seep through more of the mist about four feet in front of me as I felt the warmth rising. I held it down and let the chakra for the flame jutsu grow before I let it out in a massive belch of fire.

The result I did not expect as the small cloud I created went off like a bomb. I was forced backward as my head hit something solid during my flight and I could feel shrapnel hit me as I hit the water below. I came up gasping as my head was spinning. Dammit, that was so stupid! I heard footsteps before sloshing and it sounded like someone yelling from far away as my head felt like it was splitting in two.

I sat down in the water as I noticed how my arms felt like they were burning as I looked to see the blisters and raw skin from where the blast had hit me. I cursed my luck for playing with hydrogen as an explosive. Although, now I had an extremely effective technique to use as a trump card should I need it.

Rough hands grabbed my shoulders as I looked up into golden eyes and pale blue skin. Kisame's mouth was moving but I couldn't hear anything as Itachi stood beside him looking rather miffed and Tobi and Deidara were putting out flames in one of the nearby trees with water jutsu.

'Can you hear me?' I read Kisame's lips as I shook my head.

'No!' I said as Itachi didn't change expressions and Kisame looked slightly worried as my headache doubled and I clutched my head realising that it hurt so much because I had broken part of my skull in the fall. Immediately I healed it gritting my teeth against the pain of knitting bone and skin back together along with my already splitting headache.

It was weird sitting in silence knowing that things were going on around you as the only thing I could hear as something like soft static from a TV. I opened my eyes once again as I felt Kisame pull me to my feet. Hidan and Kakuzu were also helping to put out the flames as Kisame expelled all of the water I had created from the training area.

Being deaf was an interesting change of events. I knew this wasn't permanent as already little filters were beginning to come through. I did a chakra check on my ears assessing the damage as I began healing my ear drum and the bones around it from the shockwave my bomb had set off.

I looked over to notice Tobi and Deidara were arguing about something as Tobi turned and ran into something then shook his fist and pointed at it as Deidara stormed over and was waving his arms around and shouting something before bopping Tobi over the head.

Honestly those two were like two year olds the way they acted as I felt a tap on my shoulder. Kisame stood there looking worried as I read his lips again.

'what did you do?' he asked as I grinned.

'Learnt a really cool new jutsu thanks to you and itachi' I said as Kisame and Itachi looked stunned at the fact that I had managed to do something useful. The ache in my arms was getting worse as I tired to heal some more of it. The pain was immense but not as bad as bone as I knitted the more damaged tissues together and repaired the nerves on some of the third degree burns I'd received.

I knew I'd have to be more careful with that attack looking at the scale of damage the amount of hydrogen and my flame jutsu had done to the training area. I would need a perfect balance between the chakra net and the flame jutsu. I looked over to Kisame who was nodding to something Itachi must've been saying as I felt his hand push me along beside him as we all re-entered the house.

I knew I'd be getting an earful later for that trick as Kisame escorted me to my bedroom. I glanced at Kisame as I felt a little of the irritation from earlier today trickle back in but not as much as I had expected. I really did like the gift he had given me and there was that nagging feeling that the blades of my knives looked very familiar.

'I'll be back in a few minutes. You were screaming last night again so I have to stay with you' I read Kisame's lips again as I never noticed how sharp and shark like his teeth were. All of the seemed razor edged and pointed as I gave a nod and he turned forever guarded eyes to me. 'Will you be alright?' he asked as I nodded again. Once I'd just like to see his eyes without the guard and the anger behind them. Like that would happen in a million years, I wasn't in a fairytale, this was life.

!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame sighed to himself in his shower as he let the torrent of hot water run over his skin. Kasumi was definitely a live wire. One minute she was screaming at him, next reading the make-out paradise books that Hidan had stocked, then after supper decided to try a new jutsu involving water that somehow exploded and cause a good chunk of damage to the house. Not to mention the fact that she had deafened herself and given herself third degree burns from not calculating the size of her explosion.

But then again he'd done similar things nearly drowning himself with his shark jutsu. But at least he had know the basic result before he tried it.

'Kisame?' Itachi's smooth voice seemed to echo in the little bathroom as he quickly rinsed the soap from his hari and stuck his head around the shower curtain to see the Uchiha prodigy standing by his sink.

'yes?' he asked as Itachi traced a finger along the just cleaned white porcelain.

'Leader has insisted that Kasumi be given kunoichi training from Konan after the most as recent turn of events with her jutsu training' he said quietly as Kisame winced remembering the sight of the explosion. Secretly he had been watching her practice from the shadows in the doorway just to make sure she didn't do anything extremely stupid. He had thought she had been trying to recreate his jutsu from earlier but he had been completely wrong in that calculation.

'I see' Kisame said before sticking his head back into the shower and reaching for his body wash.

'She really has very little training doesn't she' Itachi stated more as an observation than a question.

'her basic training is solid but beyond that other than her medical skills and knowledge of poisons she seems to be missing massive amounts of training and information.' Kisame said over the roar of the shower as he heard Itachi shift, probably sitting on the sink now. They had talked like this many times before, it wasn't uncommon for one or the other to be in the shower while the other talked to them.

'I can't say I approve of how close you are with her Kisame.' Itachi's voice was cutting as Kisame flinched. Right. Back to that issue that Kisame wasn't even sure of himself. 'I think it would be best if I did most of her primary training Kisame. You can oversee her when she is practicing her jutsu after the most recent disaster. Konan should be visiting her now to begin the training she should of received when she was a child.' Itachi sounded rather irritated as Kisame frowned it was unlike the Uchiha to show much emotion. But immediately he knew why Kasumi was such a touchy subject to the Uchiha.

She was from Konoha. A part of Itachi that Kisame knew burned him to no end. The knowledge that Kasumi had had such terrible training obviously put a dent in his Uchiha pride at the fact that any ninja who had defected from Konoha would be so weak. It was obvious that Itachi, despite his irritation of her and everything about her, felt the need and drive to prove that people who knew Konoha's true side were stronger than the deluded believers.

Either that or Itachi just wanted stronger ninja in the Akatsuki.

Who knew what really went on in Itachi's mind.

'I understand your position on this Itachi' he said as there was a shift on the sink. 'But I will continue to train kasumi in teaching her how to use weapons' the statement floated on the air for a second before Kisame heard Itachi move off of the sink.

'This is not a debate Kisame' Itachi stated ask his Kisame stuck his head out of the shower.

'No it is not. We both agree that under such circumstances I should not train kasumi. On the other hand I am the only person other than kasumi who can handle those daggers, it is appropriate that I train her in that respect' Kisame was pulling out his trump card as Itachi frowned once again his sharingans spinning in irritation. Itachi hated anyone trying to go against his word even if it was Kisame who he let slide the most.

Itachi didn't say anything as he turned and left the bathroom. Kisame sighed, he hated making Itachi irritated it always meant that he'd have to make it up to him later on by taking his cooking shift or something. The next few weeks were going to be tedious.

!!!!!!!!!

I was just about to go to bed when there was a polite knock at my door. I went over to see Konan standing there looking prim and proper as always.

'Oh hello Konan!' I smiled as she seemed rather displeased by my greeting.

'From now on you shall refer to me as Konan-SAN. Put on proper clothing, your neglected kunoichi training begins now' she said as I blinked. Kunoichi training? There was actual training to be a female ninja, unbelievable.

I nodded and closed the door quickly changing into my issues pants, shirt and cloak before zipping it up to my chest before meeting Konan at my door again. She looked me over and gave a slight incline to her head.

'Acceptable. First lesson to learn. A kunoichi is as beautiful as she is deadly. The most beautiful the kunoichi the more she must learn how to use her looks to her advantage against shinobi.' She said as she turned and I closed the door following closely behind Konan toward the library. 'First we will work on your walk and basic coordination followed by basic knowledge of etiquette. Tomorrow I will escort you to town to…' she looked back at me as I followed along and seemed to flinch at me. '…fix that mop you call hair and mess you call eyebrows. Have you ever heard of eyeshadow?' she equipped as I fought down the urge to punch her. Venomous little witch! I should NOT have to do this! I honestly didn't care if my hair wasn't cut properly or I didn't wear makeup and I didn't know how to walk properly. Why the hell did I need this training?!

'Before you ask you need this training to learn restraint and etiquette to deal with social situations on missions. You seemed to have failed in this respect so far' she said as we entered the library.

Konan pulled, I swore to god, the largest and heaviest book from the shelves.

'You will walk with your back straight and head up with the book upon your head until I deem that you have mastered it' she said bluntly as I stared at her. In all honesty all I wanted to do was sleep. My burns were sore as were my muscles from training with Itachi. Not to mention all of the bruises I had from various rocks thanks to the Uchiha. Little bastard.

Konan set the book on my head as I thought my neck was going to break from the weight.

'walk' Konan commanded. Needless to say there was definitely an art to this as the book fell off and I had to jump out of the way to avoid having the tome land on my toes. 'Again' Konan had taken a seat in the worn armchair watching me rather bored. I assumed she probably had better things to do ( like bone the leader but I wasn't going to say that to her) as she started folding little slips of paper into stars.

I tried again as I learnt very quickly that I needed to keep my back and head straight and that my steps needed to be even and balanced. Ironically much like walking on water I noticed as I quickly became accustomed to moving about the room with the book on my head. More than once Konan barked instructions such as to look around and such, I was so tired as I knew it must be in the early hours of the morning by the time Konan called it quits.

'I'm glad to see that you are a fast learner. This will make life for both of us much more pleasant' she seemed satisfied 'I expect you to walk everywhere like you have a novel on your head. Follow my lead or Itachi's for walking' she said and left the room. I collapsed into the warm armchair as the book clattered to the floor. I was too damn tired to make my way back to my room as my eyes seemed to close on their own. Darn chair being so comfy as I drifted to sleep.

!!!!!!!!!

A knock rose Kisame from his sleep as he walked to his door to find Konan standing there.

'She fell asleep in the Library. I suggest you retrieve her before she begins her nightly screaming Kisame' Konan said as Kisame nodded. He had never been fond of Konan, she was always icy and uptight when she talked to him and had an air of disgust about her when she looked at him. He believed the only reason she dealt with him was because of his knowledge of good manners and etiquette.

Konan gave a slight nod of a bow as he returned it before she vanished in a plume of smoke.

Kisame sighed and ruffled his hair before going to the library in search of the sleeping kasumi. He found her curled up in the beaten armchair snoring slightly in her slightly too big Akatsuki cloak. Damn woman falling asleep in random places as he lifted her gently. She stirred slightly but didn't wake as he looked at the healing patches of burnt skin on her neck and hands.

She was a spitfire there was no doubt about that as he headed back to his room. But he realised that Itachi was right. He couldn't become emotionally attached to kasumi, it would bring too many issues into the Akatsuki. Problems that he didn't even know would be permitted by Leader. Kasumi shifted in her sleep laying her hand again his chest as she sighed.

He sighed again and slid her bedroom door open with his foot as he crossed the room and tucked her in. She rolled over and her breathing evened out more as Kisame closed her bedroom door before taking a seat on the edge of her bed. He really didn't want to get attached to anyone especially not after Mizu. He put his head in his hands, he had never been this confused in his entire life as he desperately wanting to punch something in his frustration.

Kasumi rolled over and whimpered as she grabbed the linen sheets under her and twisted them. He sighed and moved so that he was lying beside her as he ran a hand through her hair. It seemed to calm her down as she calmed and rolled so that her face was snuggled just under his chin.

He would have to take Itachi's advice as hard as it was going to be. He ran a hand through her long silky hair and nearly cried. Sometimes he really hated being who he was.

!!!!!!!!!!

o.o.o.o.o.o.


	14. To the Rescue!

The next few months turned into solid routine for me. It seemed that Leader didn't have many missions for us, me especially as in the morning I'd get my daily beat down from Itachi. I had learnt a great deal of information from the Uchiha and more than enough fighting moves and techniques. I was officially at a jounin level thanks to Itachi and his brutal if not effective training methods.

I had officially broken every bone in my body thanks to Itachi and more than a dozen times passed out from chakra depletion. But I could finally keep up to him in a fight and usually keep up until Itachi called a tie. I had yet to win against Itachi but I doubted I ever would, he was a prodigy after all.

After my morning beat downs I'd usually meet Deidara, Tobi and Sasori for lunch. Sasori would teach me about effective poisons according to the type of fight and effect you would want and their cures or antidotes that could be made to neutralize the poisons effects.

Deidara would talk about all of the new happenings in the surrounding villages and what the latest fashions were. He also had a great wealth of information on Konoha and what was being done about the military and war with stone. I still didn't trust Deidara completely because of his insane lying talent. You could never be too careful with the truth of his information.

Tobi would always challenge me to a round of checkers to which I always won. He would always cheer when I would win because in his mind I was the greatest checker player in the universe. He would also talk about his favourite TV shows and whether cookies or pie was better. Honestly it was like having a little brother when I was with Tobi.

After Lunch I'd usually meet Kisame for weapons training. I was quite skilled with my daggers but Kisame himself had seemed to change. He had gone back to the way I originally remembered him. Fierce, commanding, removed, closed, and generally angry all covered with his refined politeness.

It was strange being with Kisame too because he would never say anything more than pertaining to my training then he would vanish. I would only see him at meal times and the only evidence I ever had that he had stayed with me at night was the warm spot and ruffled sheets where he had been lying before I woke.

All in all it was strange and Itachi seemed to be spending an increasing amount of time with the shark ninja. It seemed that I was becoming increasingly lonely in my time training with Kisame, even with him physically there it seemed he had retracted whatever friendliness he had originally put forward to be replaced with simple politeness and indifference.

After training with Kisame I'd have about an hour to myself where I would usually just go and read more of Make-out Paradise or watch crime shows in the living room with Kakuzu and his eternal newspaper. He was ALWAYS reading the darn thing, I didn't know how he even watched the TV.

I would have supper with everyone as we did every night. As always I sat between Kisame and Deidara and there was an open seat at the head of the table for leader who never showed. Kisame never talked to me at the table and when I started a conversation he was always polite but never carried a conversation for more than a few sentences before he'd change topic and start talking to someone else about something. It was honestly intensely frustrating.

After supper I would meet Konan for my ridiculous Kunoichi training. I had mastered walking with a book on my head, I was passable at arranging flowers, my table manners were pretty good and my skills with makeup were improving. Konan had me in the routine of styling my long hair into either a long braid or putting it back in a fancy knot with ornate clips that honestly were the most irritating things on the face of the planet. Konan also taught me the art of flirting, as stupid as it was, and how to walk in a kimono and on those stupid wooden shoes. She taught me the art of conversation that I failed at miserably and she deemed me to be an ignorant little bitch for eternity for not being able to learn how to sound pleasant and not angry all the time.

Needless to say I always left Konan's lessons humiliated, tired, and my self confidence was in my toes then I'd sleep knowing that Kisame would be there but only if he knew I were asleep and not before and the moment I awoke he would be gone.

All in all it was a frustrating cycle that made me want to scream until my lungs hurt. Kisame was avoiding me pointedly, that hurt more than I imagined anything could.

I sat down on the porch outside of the kitchen and rested my head in my hands. I still had yet to fix the buckle on my boot as I heard light footsteps come around the corner of the house. They seemed to slow as I heard an irritated sigh as someone sat down beside me. Kisame had called off our training after lunch because he and Itachi had been called away on a mission to retrieve something for Leader and would be back the following evening.

I glanced over to see Deidara sitting with him knees pulled up and his arms resting loosely around them as he stared into the yard. It was winter now and we had had a few cold slushy days but nothing compaired to the snow on the mountains as I pulled my cloak closer to me against the cool drafts.

'Kasumi, is everything alright yeah?' Deidara asked not looking at me as I looked over at him. He seemed like he was debating something as I sighed and rested my elbows on my thighs.

'I just don't understand why Kisame has been so pointedly avoiding me and being so cold to me. It was like he became a completely different person in one night' I mumbled as Deidara looked up at me with a grin.

'The thing is Kasumi yea. Is that you're seeing the Kisame that everyone sees yeah. Kisame became a different person when he was around you yea. None of us have ever seen him act that way before yea.' He said with almost a hint of amusement in his tone.

'I see' I mumbled. I honestly didn't get it. Maybe he was still mad for me yelling at him for that shark jutsu all those months ago. Deidara smiled and ruffled my hair that I had painstakingly braided and clipped this morning as I reached over and clocked the young man in the collar bone.

'Haha, just give him time Kasumi yea.' He wheezed as climbed to his feet. 'you're getting a good punch now yeah' he grinned and headed into the kitchen as I sat there on the step and mused on Deidara's words.

Give Kisame some time. Well, I hoped that if I did that maybe things would turn out for the better. Maybe just maybe.

I headed into the house and had to jump to the side as Tobi barrelled into the kitchen taking out three chairs as I grabbed the vase that had been sitting on a low table.

'Holy Jashin Tobi, what the fuck?!' Hidan snapped looking over his sandwich as Tobi stuck his hand up in the air triumphantly holding a scroll.

'Kisame and Itachi are in TROUBLE!!!' He screeched as Deidara swiped the scroll from Tobi and read it.

'Seems they've met resistance with some sand ninja yea' Deidara reported as I sighed. I was never called out on missions because I was the one they returned to, to fix them up. Hidan snatched the scroll from Deidara as he read it.

'Hey, Kuzu, lets go and bring Kisame's whore.' He spat as Kakuzu folded up his newspaper and set it atop the TV. I blinked me? Why was I going?

'It seems that Itachi must've overused the sharingan again' Kakuzu looked at me pointedly as I nodded and ran for my bedroom. I had come into the habit of stocking emergency kits pertaining to the injuries that were common case for each of the Akatsuki members. It was much easier than hunting around for items before leaving as I grabbed a poisons kit for good measure too and extra bandaging. I strapped on my daggers and donned my robe and hat before meeting an already dressed Hidan, scythe strapped to his back and Kakuzu who looked extremely irritated and kept glancing at his newspaper.

'Let's go' Kakuzu mumbled as we headed off. I lagged behind the duo as we raced through the trees and around the sides of mountains.

'So where are those assholes exactly?' hidan asked as Kakuzu pulled out the scroll again.

'Border of Sand and Stone. We need to head West from here' he announced as we pulled sharply to the right and continued running. It would take a good few days to reach stone as I wondered how badly Itachi's eyes had been damaged. I had little experience with sharingan users. The most I knew was that if the damage was too great it would lead to blindness.

We fell silent and continued running as Hidan stepped up the pace until we were nearly sprinting through the trees. We must've covered a massive amount of ground as Hidan's pace never seemed to let up as I had to delve into the speed jutsu Itachi had taught me to continue Hidan's pace.

'We will stop here for the night' I heard Kakuzu as I noticed how dark had seemed to descend rather rapidly as we stopped on a small clearing. We were now along the northern coast as we were in a forest of pine and cedar with more than enough dry wood for fire. I set up a small fire and set to work making something for us to eat. It happened to be rations bars and some warmed tea as Hidan kept to himself for which I was greatful.

I had first watch as the other two went to sleep Hidan against a tree and Kakuzu in the tree. Those two were a strange duo. I had expected Hidan to be more of a loud mouth but it seemed that something was preoccupying him and it was nice that I didn't have to listen to the idiot.

The forest was utterly silent and other than normal forest life was devoid of all humans but us for a few kilometres it seemed. I watched the fire lick at the underside of the thermos the tea had come in and wondered if Kisame and Itachi were alright.

I heard a few curses come from Hidan as he slept but nothing from Kakuzu as I stoked the fire and added more wood. It had been a long time since I had been out like this by myself in the woods. It made me cringe as I realised the last time anything like this had happened I had still been on Kakashi's team. That was a downer as a log popped rather loudly and I jumped.

Stupid fire.

I always hated watch, it was so utterly boring as I listened to the surroundings for anything that seemed out of place. The funny thing was that we were so removed from civilization that the only thing around us were bugs, dirt, and the odd bird.

I fiddled with the broken buckle on my boot, I honestly needed to get that fixed as I heard Kakuzu move from his place in the tree. I guessed he was taking next watch as I relaxed against the trunk of the tree I had been leaning on. I knew sleep was going to be difficult as I closed my eyes and just tried to sleep as much as possible.

It wasn't long before someone kicked me to wake me up as I saw Hidan grinning at me before he threw one of the rations bars into my lap.

'come on Bitch, we have to get there before your Lover dies or that fucker Itachi' he snipped as I stood and put my pack on. Kakuzu was kicking the ashes around the campsite and erasing all traces we had been there before we headed out. I was getting accustomed to moving at the rapid place the Akatsuki moved at as I could keep up with them for most of the day. I still had no idea how Hidan kept up his speed with that massive scythe as I ignored all of his complaining about how hot it was, why they had to be stuck with me, why they had to go save 'the fuckers' from trouble, and a million more little nuances.

We nearly had a run in with a Stone patrol and Hidan whined that we avoided them instead of letting him sacrifice them to Jashin-sama as he referred to his god. Honestly, I didn't know how Kakuzu put up with him, he was suck an arrogant asshole.

But I wasn't going to say anything to him, especially not after he had tried to rape me that one night. I winced in remembrance glad for my hat as the trees had slowly turned into deciduous trees and were now becoming thinner and more scraggily as I noticed how the dirt was slowly becoming lighter and the temperature was rising quickly. I was glad that the uniforms were designed for changed in temperature as I unzipped the front of my cloak.

Kakuzu called us to a halt when we hit the tree line. I looked out onto a vast sea of sand that seemed endless as I was struck at just how hard it was going to be to find Kisame and Itachi.

'Why the fuck are we waiting Bastard?' Hidan snapped turning to Kakuzu as the masked ninja held up his hand for silence as I did a quick scan of the area. We were being watched as I could feel the chakra flares sitting within the border of River country.

'Let's head west. Kisame and Itachi said they were close to stone' I said as Kakuzu gave me a nod and Hidan glared at me.

'Why is the bitch calling the shots?!' he snapped as Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

'Because she has half a brain unlike you.' He mumble as we headed west. I could feel the other ninja tailing us, they were doing a very good job at concealing themselves as I could still feel tiny flares from where they would jump.

'are we going to do anything about them?' I asked quietly as Hidan glanced at me over his shoulder.

'I want to but Asshole here wont let me' he grit out as Kakuzu didn't stop or deviate from our path. Honestly, I was beginning to wonder if we were being herded as Kakuzu suddenly stopped. I landed a little precariously on a branch just above him.

'Why did we stop?' I asked looking down at them as Hidan turned to Kakuzu.

'Come one just let me sacrifice them pleeeeeeeeease?' he whined as Kakuzu shot him a silencing look as Hidan mumbled some curses under his breath.

'Come, I have a feeling I know where Kisame and Itachi are' Kakuzu muttered as he took off into the sand dunes. Hidan cursed rather loudly as I ignored him and took off after Kakuzu. Obviously the ninja tailing us didn't like what we were doing as I noticed they had picked up their pace almost aggressively.

Looks like they were sand ninja that were tailing us. Either that or they had requested Konoha help them with border patrols, both were ideas I was not particularly fond of.

Out under the sun was insanely hot as I stripped off my Akatsuki cloak keeping my hat firmly in place. I wondered how people would survive crossing this desert if they had no idea where an oasis was or where the villages were as Kakuzu kept us heading deeper into the dunes.

'Fuck, well this was a genus idea!' Hidan snapped stripping off his cloak so that he was topless. Amazingly Kakuzu continued to wear all of his clothing as he didn't even seem to notice the heat. I noticed that our followers had picked up the pace and seemed like they were cutting around to try to head us off.

'Kakuzu' I called as he nodded and veered to the right as Hidan cursed and chased after me. This was getting tedious as we were now heading for a high gorge, we headed up the far side of the gorge to the top as we were met by a group of about six ninja, three from Konoha and three from Suna as they all brandished weapons and took on a fighting stance.

I sighed. Great, this was going to come down to a battle.

'Kasumi, Hidan and I will take care of these guys. There should be another chunin patrol halfway through the canyon. Avoid them and at the end of the canyon head north to a waterfall. Kisame and Itachi should be there.' Kakuzu mumbled as Hidan was laughing.

'Ooooooooooooooh these are going to be fun to sacrifice to Jashin-sama' he cackled as the other ninja looked shifty.

'You're not welcome around here Akatsuki!' one shouted as I snorted. Duh, we weren't welcome anywhere. Kakuzu seemed amused by my snort as the face off began each side waiting for a movement.

'well, it seems that Konoha is once again playing favourites Kakuzu.' Hidan taunted as the other man remained stoic. 'I mean really, you assholes just use people for convenience. Maybe you fuckers should try to overrun the Akatsuki. Not that you pathetic fuckwads could' he laughed twirling his scythe easily as the chain on the end rattled. I honestly knew how much Hidan's jutsu hurt as I stood back behind the two men.

'Is that Akahana?' I heard someone shout as I looked more closely at the group of Konoha ninja as I winced. There stood Genma looking fierce with his senbon needle clenched between his teeth.

'I thought she was dead.' Izumo was beside him as I sighed and made sure my hair was covering my scar. Hidan chuckled and glanced back at me.

'Oh you mean the little bitch? Naw, we picked her up on one of our little trip. Shes very, feisty' he raised an eyebrow as I glared at him.

'Shut up you fucker!' I growled as he laughed and Kakuzu rolled his eyes. The other ninja seemed surprised by my outburst as Hidan couldn't stop laughing. One of the suna ninja decided that attacking while Hidan was distracted was a good idea as he disappeared from where he had been.

Instantly Hidan had his scythe up and was blocking the enemy ninja with a grin.

'Nice try asshole, but I'm going to rip you limb from limb… slowly' he grinned as Kakuzu motioned for me to leave pointing toward the canyon. I used Itachi's speed jutsu as everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion as I ran over the side of the canyon. I kept my pace along the side as I ran over rocky outcrops and ragged shale slopes.

I felt the chakra flares as the people tried to pursue me along the ragged out crops. They soon fell back as I saw another ninja waiting in the outcrop on the other side of the canyon. I let myself drop a couple hundred feet and then another as I made my way to the canyon floor.

I heard a resounding boom as I glanced up to see boulders and dirt rocketing toward me. So they had placed explosives within the canyon to stop us if we had gone through the first patrols. I laughed, this was definitely going to be a trap as I headed up the side of the canyon toward the ninja who had given the signal. I knew he was panicking as I grabbed the ledge and swung over landing a kick to the underside of his chin as he flailed and fell off the ledge as I continued on my way up. I met no resistance as I reached the top and followed along the edge of the canyon. I Turned again as I hit the end of the canyon then turned north following scraggily shrubbery and cacti until I hit another tree line.

These trees were strange with many tangles limbs high up and long smooth trunks, useless for running in as I continued along on the ground by foot. I sincerely hoped that no one was pursuing me as I headed toward where I supposed the waterfall was. Soon I found a stream as I followed it up hopping from rock to rock until it became to wide and fast to get near it.

I heard the waterfall before I saw it as the deep throaty roar of falling water drew me in. I came to stand in front of a massive waterfall as I looked around. I didn't see anything that hinted at human life as I double checked my surroundings for any signs of people.

There were a few chakra flares closing in from the direction I had come as I searched quickly for somewhere Itachi and Kisame could hide. The water looked too dangerous to swim anywhere in as the waterfall looked too fast to jump through. I jumped closer to the falls and looked as I hopped clear across the craggily rocks and landed rather precariously on the other side as I grabbed the rocks to balance myself. It didn't seem there was anywhere to hide here either as I felt the flares were nearly in range to detect mine as I smothered it as much as I could. I looked for any crevice that might hint at a cave as I sighed and noticed a small black hole near the base of the waterfall. It looked just big enough for me to get around behind the waterfall without being directly in the path of the water.

I crawled along the craggily outcrops as soon the roar of the water was deafening and all I could see was the wall of white which was the falling water and the murky depths of the outcrop I was hunched over.

Quickly I made a water clone and sent her charging up and away from the waterfall heading north east as I turned and slunk into a slightly larger crack that seemed quite small from the angle I was at. It was a bit of a stretch as I swung myself over a gap to land in front of the crack. I could fit easily if I turned sideways and had to scramble along the various boulders that had wedged themselves in the crack. I scraped my arms and knees a few times on the slippery rocks before the crack turned sharply and opened into a murky cavern.

There was a shadowy lump at the far end of the cavern as suddenly I was pinned again the wall by a large arm and a kunai against my neck. I gagged and realised it was Kisame by the size of the arm as I stuck my ring hand in his face.

'Shit Kasumi!' he gasped and dropped me as I sucked in a lungful of air. He lifted me to my feet as I coughed and waved my hand to indicate I was alright.

'how are you guys?' I asked looking up to see that Kisame had a decent sized cut that went along the side of his gills and looked extremely painful.

'Been better, Itachi's in a bad way. Some type of poison' he said as I nodded and swung my pack off of my back and crossed quickly to Itachi's prone form. The Uchiha didn't even look at me as I quickly checked his temperature and drew some of his blood. I ran a test within the kit Sasori had given me as I also used my healing chakra to double check where exactly the poison was targeting. It seemed that he had been hit by a basic type of poison used by sand ninja as Sasori had given me massive amounts of antidote for it as I filled two syringes with the light blue liquid and put them into Itachi's veins.

'Is he going to be alright?' Kisame's voice was quite but it held a worried edge to it as I looking into large concerned golden eyes. It was nice to see Kisame showing emotion again as I shook myself and packed up the kit opening a first aid one to patch up a few cuts I could see on itachi's arm.

'he'll be fine but I doubt he'll be able to move very much in the next few days. Someone will have to look after him until he can walk and move freely.' I explained as I healed a nasty looking wound before putting light bandaging over it. Kisame sat beside me and fell silent as the distant roar of the waterfall was all that could be heard.

'how long have you been here?' I asked quietly as I cleaned the dried blood from Itachi's eyes and gently healed the strained blood vessel and chakra paths. Itachi had significant damage to his eyes, the blood vessels were horrible most were blocked and dead tissue as I tried to heal what I could as I repaired the chakra pathways as best I could as well. The dead tissue was hindering the chakra flow as I catalogued this for research when I returned to the hideout.

'We're been here nearly a week' Kisame muttered as I nodded and moved from Itachi who was now sleeping soundly to fix Kisame. The cut over his gills was getting infected as I rooted for some pain killers.

'This will sting' I informed him as I put the anaesthetic into his face. It would be painful to remove the infection as I waited for his face to go numb. I pulled out the suture material and did my best to remove the infection before healing the deepest part of the wound then sewing the rest closed. He didn't flinch which I was greatful for as sewing the slashed part of his gills was slow and tricky business with how delicate the pieces of skin were.

I sat back one I was finished as Kisame removed his cloak and pulled off his shirt to revel the jagged slash in his shoulder. I did a quick check, luckily it looked worse from the dried blood and slight scabbing than actual open wound. I cleaned it and bandaged it as I sat back and looked at the shark man. Itachi slumbered on completely unaware to the world as he stood and put his clothing back on and strapped samehada into place on his back.

'we should get moving' I announced as my brain scrambled to catch up. It had become awkward between Kisame an I in the dark little space as he just gave me a nod and lifted the Uchiha into his arms. I wondered how Hidan and Kakuzu were fairing as we headed out of the dank little cavern.

I managed to cut, bump and scrape my elbow and knees some more as Kisame moved with an agile grace that had me jealous of him. He made scrambling over boulders and moss covered stone look like a cake walk as I looked more like I had been living in that hovel for a good four months by the time we reached the ledge covered by the waterfall.

Itachi hadn't stirred at all as Kisame led the way around the ledge and up over the slimy rocks that were beside the waterfall until we were standing on the boulders just before the drop off.

'where are the others?' Kisame's voice had taken on his blood lust tint as I forced down a shiver.

'Fighting in the canyon. Kakuzu instructed me to leave and find you.' I explained as he nodded and suddenly he tossed Itachi to me. I caught the Uchiha and staggered as Kisame pulled out samehada in time to deflect a large shuriken that had been hurled at us. I fought to keep Itachi in my arms as I set him down before lifting him in a fireman's lift over my shoulders. Itachi wasn't heavy per say but deadweight was harder to carry than a conscious person was.

'A good fight is what I need. COME ON COWARDS, YOU'RE LUCKY I'M NOT SENDING MY SHARKS IN THERE TO FIND YOU!' he roared as four men leapt out of the trees. I dove behind a larger boulder just before they landed and hid Itachi in a crevice that unless you were looking for it, it would never be found.

I used my speed jutsu and seemingly appeared beside Kisame as the four ninja seemed slightly surprised and amused by me.

'where is Itachi?' Kisame's voice barely moved at all as I kept my back to his.

'his in a crevice behind the boulder shaped like a bear' I did a rough calculation on what it looked like also keeping my mouth from moving so the words came out in more of a hiss.

'try to stay with me as much as you can' Kisame mumbled as I nodded and the other ninja attacked. I defended Kisame's flank as two of them went for me. The first tried to distract me with weapons while the other used a jutsu of some type as I blocked the kick and sat my hand in the tiger position and blew a jet of flames at the ninjas. The both dove out of the way easily as I checked Kisame's position, he was holding his own as I heard his trademark gurgle as gallons and gallons of water purged from his mouth. I quickly moved knowing how much chakra Kisame's water could absorb just by touching it as one of the ninja was stupid enough to assume it was normal water.

Her met a watery end as Kisame's sharks tore him apart after he had his chakra completely drained from his system. Kisame stood on the surface as I was rapidly blocking, dodging and turning various attacks on my two opponents. I noticed how the edge of the water kept coming closer and closer as they forced me backward. They obviously thought that only Kisame was immune to the chakra water as I leapt out onto its surface to stand behind Kisame. I could feel a slight leech from the water but nothing significant as Kisame was grinning maniacally.

I noticed all of the enemy ninja hesitated stepping onto the water as I heard the telltale hiss of a fuse being lit.

'BOMB!' I shouted as suddenly I was hauled to my right as a huge wall of water was thrown up around us buffeting the blast. A shape loomed behind the waterfall as I dove to the side as Genma flew through the wall of water. I heard a roar as I looked to see four senbon needles embedded in Samehada's side as Kisame swung a punch into Genma's chest. I heard the sharp crack of breaking bone as Genma went sailing back and the wall of water sloshed back into the lake.

I watched as Kisame grinned and swung Samehada waiting for another attack. I pulled out two of my daggers as I waited. I knew Kisame was not patient as Out of the blue a giant ball of lightning hit the water. I gasped as Kisame jumped away as I ran for the bank on the opposite side as someone aimed a roundhouse kick at my head. I blocked and slashed with my dagger as I turned to see Izumo with a large branch as he cracked it over my head. My vision spotted as I turned and sliced rather blindly with my dagger as I heard a shriek of pain. My vision was spotting as I touched the spot on the back of my head. My hand was wet and covered in red as I heard Kisame shout.

I was so disoriented as I managed to fend off most of the blows as someone landed a wicked upper cut to my chin which sent me falling back into the water. I opened my eyes to see the silver surface ripple as people ran across the surface. I turned to see a large shape as Someone pulled me back to the surface. My head broke was as the sounds of Hidan's crazed laughter reached my ears.

'Kasumi? Can you hear me?' Kisame sounded concerned as I nodded and I managed to get to my feet. I healed what I could as my vision cleared up slowly. 'Kasumi, get Itachi and get out of here okay?' he grabbed my shoulders and made me look into his eyes as I nodded and turned to run to where I had hidden Itachi.

I passed a large tree as someone fell on me. Whoever they were they were heavy as they managed to wind me before I was hit with something really hard. The last thing I saw was Genma slashing at Kisame before my world swirled black.


	15. I wont tell

'Izumo , shit how hard did you hit her?' I heard low male voices and the swift sway of movement as I realised I was NOT with the Akatsuki. I continued to lay limp as someone had thrown me over their shoulders in a fireman's lift as we were moving quickly through the trees. Dammit, I had been captured by Konoha ninja. I needed to think of a way to escape as we suddenly stopped. I cracked open an eye to see the admission hut on the other side of Konoha's massive gates.

'Welcome back guys, you might want to hide her before the others realise that we have an Akatsuki member captive' I heard a low rumble as I looked to see Jiraiya standing beside Naruto who was wide eyed as I knew he knew I was awake as I winked at him. He gave me a nod as Jiraiya looked at the boy.

'something up Naruto?' he asked as the blonde child looked up and shook his head.

'I've never seen an Akatsuki member before. Who is she?' he asked as Genma was moving again and I watched Naruto turn to look at me as Jiraiya frowned.

'Someone who I think everyone here forgot about' he mumbled as Genma turned a corner and they were lost from view. I lay there as we moved up to hopping along the roofs as Hokage mountain came into view. Well, I knew where they were taking me as I waited until they were in mid jump before I suddenly pulled myself away from Genma.

'WHAT THE?!' I heard the shout as I turned and saluted them before turning and landing on one of the neighbouring roofs and taking off for the forest.

'GET HER!' I heard the alarm raised as I leapt over a water tank and a clothesline before I could feel the chakra flares of more ninja appearing.

'KAKASHI!' I heard Genma shout as A blur of white came for my right and a blur of green came from my left. I jumped as the two seemed to come together as I dove in between two buildings using a clothesline as a bungee as I shot up and over six buildings. I could see the forest getting closer, I was almost there!

I turned and realised my mistake as an arm shot out from behind a water tank as I was pinned forcefully against the metal tank. I looked up into two familiar mismatched eyes as confusion flitted through them.

'kasumi?' Kakashi breathed as I knew they were getting closer.

'Please Kakashi, let me go! I need to get back, please, they'll kill me!' I pleaded as he seemed torn. Time was wasting as I looked at him. 'please Kakashi!' I whispered as his face hardened.

'you chose this path kasumi' he growled as he seemed to shut down before he hit the pressure point on my neck. I could feel myself loosing consciousness again.

'I'm sorry Kakashi' I breathed as I slammed a chakra filled palm into his gut as I heard a grunt and snap as I broke a few ribs before my world was once again black.

What was it with people and making me pass out? I was groggy as I noticed I had been shackled with chakra resistant cuffs to a rather bland looking table and chair in a white room with a mirror.

How original. They were going to interrogate me as to where the Akatsuki was as I sat up and stared at the mirror. If I focused I could make out six figures roughly. One I knew was Jiraiya because his hair and stature was so unique. I assumed the tall lanky one was Kakashi, the shorter one with the hat was probably the Hokage and there were a few others that I assumed were either jonin or chunin.

The door opened as I saw another familiar, if not scarred face step into my little room. Ibiki, fire countries best interrogator as he came and sat down across from me.

'Hey Ibiki, long time no see. How've you been?' I asked as he blinked and sighed giving a dark chuckle.

'Akahana. You always were a strange one, but let's start this easy. We can do this the easy way or my way.' He said looming over me as I wasn't intimidated. What could Ibiki do? Torture me? I had been with the Akatsuki for training and any of them could kill me outright. Really I was too valuable for them to kill.

'Ask away, although I doubt I'll answer them all.' I said as Ibiki looked a little annoyed by my attitude but at least he knew I was cooperating.

'what is your position in the Akatsuki?' he asked as I rolled my eyes.

'well, I don't really have a place. I'm just kinda a last addition in case someone dies. I'm pretty useless compaired to the others really. I get the shit beaten out of me at training really' I explained as Ibiki stared at me like I was totally lying.

'right. Well, if you tell us the truth we might allow you to rejoin Konoha. If you don't you'll be put to death.' He threatened as I leant back in my chair.

'you wont kill me. I'm too valuable. Look. I'm willing to cooperate as much as possible but honestly I'm not spouting all of the Akatsuki secrets to you mainly because I don't know much about them. I've only been there for what? Half a year. Not long. Mostly all I know is that they big scary ninja that could kill me without knowing it' I said as Ibiki seemed quite irritated that I was cooperating but not in the way he wanted.

'Fine then. Tell me the name of the people in Akatsuki and where they're from' he explained as I thought for a second.

'well, I haven't met many of them. Most of the ones I've met I've been told to call them by their position. There's Leader-sama, you really don't want to mess with him. Then there's Zetsu, he's a cannibal plant man that tried to eat me a few times, uh… well there's Mizu sensei, he's pretty scary and has a love of violence. Ho sensei has infinite amounts of patience but he does not accept error in any form. Lastly there's Ko-sama, she is the most refined one there and whatever she says is law. I don't know how but she and leader-sama are connected in some way.' I explained as I saw someone behind the glass bend over to talk to another person.

'Where are the Akatsuki?' he asked as I looked at him.

'right now?' I asked as he gave me a 'no shit' look.

'I haven't a clue.' I said as Ibiki gave me a disbelieving look. I sighed. 'seriously, they move around in the past half a year I've been through at least four or five different places' I said as Ibiki nodded seemingly pleased by this information. My head was really starting to hurt as I tried to reach my head as I realised my arms were shackled down to the sides of the chair. Wonderful.

'Anything else you want me to tell you?' I asked as Ibiki stood.

'I think you've done well enough for today.' He said and left as I was left sitting in the little room. I really had to pee and my headache was becoming nearly unbearable as I let my head fall back so that I was staring at the ceiling.

'Can you guys bring me some medicine for this headache you gave me by smashing me over the head with a tree branch GENMA' I bit out as I shook my chains trying to pull my hands closer to my face. I heard the door open again as I turned to see the Hokage standing there. He was looking distinctly older and more tired as Izumo followed him in setting a glass and some white tablets on the table. I gave him a dead panned look at the items just out of my reach and shook the chains on my hands.

He quickly put the tablets in my mouth and helped me take some of the water as the hokage took a seat across from me. Kakashi followed in along with Genma as I gave them both dirty looks. Both seemed completely unfazed as I sat there waiting for my royal chew out about ditching Konoha.

'Now Kasumi, I know that Konoha hasn't been much of a home for you' he began as I gave him a trademark no-shit-sherlock stare. 'But you see, your service within the military has been… legendary needless to say.' He was totally padding whatever option he was going to give me. 'you really are an invaluable asset to Konoha and I have a proposition for you if you cooperate with the interrogations' he said as I smirked. I knew what was coming and there was no way in the seven hells I was going to do it.

'what are you grinning at?!' I heard Izumo snap as I glanced over in his general direction and shook my head.

'continue on hokage' I said as there was a rumble at me blasé way of talking to the most powerful man in Konoha.

'yes, well, if you are willing to answer all of the interrogations then we will allow you to have a new post as an academy teacher here within Konoha. What do you think Kasumi?' he asked as I burst out laughing. It was funny, they were trying to bribe me.

'Honestly there is NOTHING Konoha could offer me in return for information Hokage. I will cooperate with you as much as I see fit but other than that. Beat me, torture me, keep me here until I die. Really, there's nothing you could do short of kill me that will make me change what I'm going to tell you. But then again if you killed me you'd have no resource for info about the Akatsuki at all' I said as Genma and Kakashi seemed irked as the Hokage nodded.

'I figured you would be like this. But I'm curious to ask, why did you have these on your person?' he asked setting two of my chakra knives on the table. I had left the rest in my medical pack with Itachi as I felt their pull of chakra. The other seemed to notice this too as the Hokage raised an eyebrow.

'They were a gift to me after I managed to punch Mizu sensei in the face and knock him unconscious for a solid ten minutes. They deemed me ready enough to have a weapon and learn to use it' I explained as he nodded before setting my ring on the table. I forced down my amusement. So they had removed it from my hand. Needless to say they had just set off a major beacon to leader-sama about where they were hiding me. Idiots.

'what is the importance of this?' he asked tapping the ring with a finger. I looked at him and smiled.

'Its just a ring.' I said as he gave me a hardened look.

'Kasumi…' Kakashi warned as I shot him a dark glare.

'The ring shows that I am in Akatsuki. Because I am the newest member I get the leftovers and it happens to be the last ring' I said as the hokage nodded.

'I believe about half of what you're telling me kasumi. Now… tell me why I cannot hold these knives?' he asked as it was then I noticed the bandages on Kakashi's hands as I looked at my daggers. They didn't seem to be any different than usual.

'what do you mean?' I asked as I looked at the knives.

'None of us can touch them unless we want to be skewered' Genma bit out as I stared at them. What the hell were they talking about? I knew they weren't going to willingly hand me one of my weapons.

'well then, I guess you'll have to give them to me' I said as the hokage gave me a level look. 'or not' I mumbled as Genma pulled on a thick glove before picking up the dagger. Blue spikes shot out of the hilt and buried deep into the glove as Genma gave a grunt of pain before tossing it into a bag.

'Now, I'm going to leave Kakashi and Genma to get the real answers out of you. Maybe Ibiki if you prove to be a challenge' the hokage said standing as I glared at him. So they were going to torture me until I talked. How wonderful.

Two masked Anbu guards came in and unlocked my shackles and allowed me to stand. I didn't hesitate give a pull and lunging for Kakashi. I was immediately hauled back as I grinned, good they had given me decent restraints as I was hauled out of the room.

'see you soon Kakashi!' I called as the two Anbu guards pulled me down a long white hall. Honestly, anything that Konoha was going to do to me I wasn't terribly afraid. The Anbu pulled me into a steel elevator and pushed the down button. I knew we were going to the maximum security jail cells as the elevator sunk. I stood between the two guards humming as one shot me a glace.

'you're certainly happy for a prisoner' he said as I shrugged.

'I probably wont be here long' I hummed as the duo looked at one another. I knew they were afraid of an Akatsuki attack especially with such an unstable country. They ushered me quickly along at double the pace we had begun at as I laughed again. Man, was everyone in Konoha so jumpy. They quickly took me into a cell and attached my chains to another set of chains making me virtually immobile unless I wanted to walk the four steps from my bench to my toilet.

So much fun!

The cell was large but I couldn't see most of it in the gloom as the large door boomed closed. Well, this was exciting, now I wondered how long it would take the Akatsuki to get here and how much of a beating I was going to get from the Anbu crew for information.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!' Kisame roared punching a tree and cleaving the poor flora cleanly in half. He had been distracted for one minute, just one minute then those bastards had taken her.

'Kisame calm the fuck down!' Hidan tried to calm the enraged shark man as Kisame cleaved another tree in half with his bare hands. Kakuzu was holding Itachi piggy back style along with Kasumi's medical pack as Hidan was trying nearly anything to get the shark man to stop. Kisame had been quiet and reserved for most of the trip back but it seemed that it had finally pushed him to the brink.

'I'M GOING TO FUCKING RIP THEM APART!' he roared as Hidan dodged a blow as he blocked another with his scythe. The blow caused the metal to bend like a piece of putty as Hidan stared at the bent scythe in his hands.

'we better contact leader-sama' Kakuzu stated as Hidan nodded still staring at his scythe. Kisame grunted in agreement as Kakuzu adopted the dragon hand seal and sat cross legged as Hidan followed suit. Kisame was way too pissed off at himself to concentrate long enough to sit and form a hand seal.

He blamed himself for this, Kasumi may have been a strong little warrior after all of the training she had been through but he had still neglected the one rule when it came to fighting Anbu. Anbu worked in teams especially when capturing people, they had merely distracted him before grabbing the weakest link on their team and running off.

He looked at the other two Akatsuki as he crouched beside Itachi's slightly curled frame. He sighed and sat down beside the Uchiha and checked his vitals wishing kasumi was here to tell him if he needed more antidote or whatnot as Kakuzu jerked and seemed to rise from his meditation as did Hidan.

'What's the verdict?' Kisame asked as Kakuzu and Hidan glanced at the shark man.

'Leader-sama is moving everyone to the hideout in rain country. Deidara and Sasori should already be there so we're to drop off Itachi to them. From there the Anbu did us a favour and removed kasumi's ring so he knows where she is exactly and where her ring is.' Kakuzu relayed the information as Kisame nodded lifting Itachi and kasumi's pack and turned to the south east.

'lets get the fuck outta here' Hidan muttered as they all set off for rain country.

!!!!!!!!!!

I groaned rolling my head off on my chest as I winced. The last beating had been pretty harsh as I spat out the blood that was either from my teeth cutting my cheek or dripping form the cut on my forehead where I had been hit by a ringed hand.

I knew my ribs were broken as were three of my fingers on my left hand. I was proud I hadn't told them anything other than fake names that I had screamed in agony instead of the akatsuki's actual names. I heard the bolt on my door open as I noticed a white haired figure walk in.

Of course they'd send in Kakashi.

'What do you want?' I growled as he seemed to slow to a stop a few feet from me. He didn't say anything as I let myself go limp, it hurt less if I just relaxed my muscles.

'You've been withholding a great deal of information kasumi. They're getting worried they'll kill you before they get any real information' Kakashi's voice was low and soothing as I sighed.

'well, I should've done this a while ago then. Would've saved me years of torment' I laughed as it turned to harsh coughs thanks to my broken ribs. I couldn't even heal myself thanks to the constant drain my restraints created.

'you want to die?' kakashi's voice was quiet as I turned to glare at him. Kakashi was the best example of why I was NEVER going to back to Konoha. Kakashi was so fucked up, like me, completely messed up thanks to these people. But what was worse was that he hid it. He hid all of his problems like Konoha hid their real problems behind the façade of being the biggest and strongest, not to mention proudest ninja country.

In reality Konoha was so politically unstable it was like a jenga game with one piece holding up about fifty others. I was just waiting for someone to pull that piece. Kakashi was like that too, he was damaged but hid behind his name and reputation as a great and noble ninja. He knew it too, and I knew he hated it.

'Kakashi, if my options were join Konoha or die, I would choose death. Honestly, there is nothing this place could offer me' I grit out as I heard Kakashi shuffle taking a step closer. There was silence as suddenly a hand came out of nowhere and struck me. I sat there silent as I didn't move.

'You're foolish' Kakashi's voice sounded tired as I didn't move.

'No Kakashi. I just have no reason to fight really' I grinned as he struck me again. 'Come on Kakashi….' I drawled turning to look at him '...you should've known I would've gone insane in that hellhole of a job I was forced in to' I could feel something nagging at the back of my mind as it seemed that I was fading. I didn't understand it really as I felt an overlying sense of how funny this was. 'besides, if I don't go back to the Akatsuki… what kind of life would I have?' I was nearly crying I was laughing so hard now. It didn't make any sense as I clamed myself down and looked at Kakashi.

'you know they will come for me Kakashi. You know what I am to them and I promise you this, as long as I'm in Akatsuki I will try to keep them away from Naruto.' I said as there was a sharp rap on the steel door and Kakashi turned and left. There was a boom as I swore I heard a soft Thank you before his shadow was replaced by Ibiki's.

Time for another beating as I closed my eyes and readied myself to tell them the same lies I always told them as I closed my eyes and waited to feel the Anbu guards knuckles meet my body.

!!!!!!!!

They weren't moving fast enough! Kisame resisted the urge to reach over and smack Hidan just because as they were moving as quickly and as quietly as they could through the trees. Itachi was still unconscious as they were moving coming quickly to the border of Bird and rain country.

'Kisame you should calm yourself, Kasumi will be fine' Kakuzu muttered adjusting his mask as Hidan scoffed but didn't say anything. He was still miffed that Kisame had bent his precious scythe like a piper cleaner. Kisame grit his teeth, he absolutely hated when people told him to calm down if anything it put him more on edge than before.

He prayed that Kasumi was alright, Konoha was not known for being extremely pleasant when trying to extract information from their prisoners. Kasumi… for some reason he honestly didn't want to know what they would do to her if she withheld information. But the next question was… would she withhold the information she had about the Akatsuki?

He had an odd feeling that kasumi wouldn't tell. Maybe it was that he had faith in her after seeing how loyal she was in learning from not only him but from Itachi as well. He knew how much those two couldn't stand one another yet they seemed to cooperate well enough.

Itachi stirred as he glanced down at the frail man he was carrying. Large obsidian eyes looked at him before he was struck by a coughing fit.

'Kasumi was captured wasn't she?' Itachi muttered after the coughing had subsided.

'Yes, the Anbu squad vanished with her. We're taking you to the hideout in Rain before heading to find Kasumi. Anbu was stupid enough to remove her ring and Leader gave Kakuzu the whereabouts.' Kisame relayed as Itachi nodded.

'I have to go with you' he stated as Kisame looked down at his partner.

'no.' Kisame bit out as Itachi gave Itachi a piercing glare.

'You do not know the Anbu jail system or their security. It'll be more effective if I go with you and we can sneak in and out before they notice we are there' Itachi explained as Kisame nodded. It made sense. Itachi had been on Anbu before and he more than likely knew every single nook and cranny of Konoha.

'Kakuzu, there's been a change of plans' Kisame boomed out as they took a left and picked up their pace rocketing toward Konoha.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fuck my life. I was in an extraordinary amount of pain after Ibiki's last beating. Sadly I had let a name slip. Tobi. I groaned and let my head fall forward. I wanted to sleep so badly but every time I did someone would come in and smack me until I was awake.

Sleep deprivation was the worst kind of torture. I didn't know how long I had been awake or how long I had been down here in the gloom. A day, a few days? I knew that it probably hadn't been more than a week.

I knew I was going insane. Slowly, ever so slowly the idea of breaking my hands to escape the manacles and then killing everyone within the building was getting more favourable as just about all of my fingers except my thumbs were broken. My left arm had welts from where they had poured boiling water on me and needless to say sitting in my underwear in the cold gloom was doing me wonders.

A series of coughs came out of nowhere as the metallic tang of blood entered my mouth. Great, pierced lung no doubt as I heard footsteps in the hall outside of my room. They obviously weren't going to let me have a moments of peace as the door opened and shut again. I noticed the looming shape of one of the many Anbu guards as the door rattled closed.

'Now, seeing as you have given us nothing so far we're going to have a little more fun with you.' I could tell he was grinning sadistically under that mask. I honestly didn't know what he was going to do as I felt tendrils of chakra stab into me and flood through my system. It was incredibly painful as I glared at him.

'So, tell me where the Akatsuki is hiding' he said as I glared at him.

'Go fuck yourself' I spat as a sudden stabbing sensation went throughout my body as white hot pain seemed to radiate from my spine. I bit back a scream as I knew the sick bastard was getting satisfaction out of this.

'I'd rather not, so, tell me where are the Akatsuki?' he asked again as I glared as him and he sighed. The pain came again as I let out a scream of pure agony before is suddenly stopped again. Obviously this guy knew the human nervous system really well to be able to hit my pain points this accurately. Maybe I could learn something from him as I traced where his chakra was sitting along my spine.

'such a pretty thing you are it really is a shame that you wont talk and we have to resort to this kind of violence' he purred as I spat at him. Bastard. Again the pain raced along my body as I couldn't control my reactions any longer.

As soon as the pain left I fell limp against the chair, my body was so beaten and weak it hurt even in memory of that horrible pain. Suddenly there was a knock at the door causing the Anbu guard and me to jump before he went over and knocked back.

The door clanked open as yet another ANBU guard came into my cell. He was smaller than most of the others with oddly familiar long black hair as I heard the usual change of guards outside of my cell.

'You have been requested by the hokage for a meeting' The voice was a low tenor as the other Anbu nodded and stepped out into the hallway. The other Anbu came in close as I glared at them through the wisps of hair that had fallen into my face.

'Kasumi, can you walk?' I heard a familiar venomous voice as my head jerked to look at the mask more closely. I could've cried when I saw familiar sharingans behind the mask as Itachi undid the manacles. I attempted to stand as I managed two steps before my legs buckled under me. Itachi didn't bother to catch me as I landed hard on my broken arm and stifled a scream.

'Kakuzu, we need a hand in here' Itachi's voice was quiet as I heard one of the guards step inside. He was also covered by an ANBU uniform as I heard muttered swearing knowing Hidan was the other guard.

I felt rough hands pick me up as I tried not to squirm or move too much with my injuries. What happened next I was not expecting as thin threads wrapped around my limbs and my torso as I was lifted and moved much like a puppet.

'too bad we didn't bring Sasori' Kakuzu muttered as he made me walk without putting a great deal of stress on my body. Itachi put me in manacles and shackles as he tossed me my Akatsuki cloak. It was torn to ribbons as I put it on noticing it didn't cover much before we were moving again and Itachi had a handful of my cloak near my shoulder.

'how are we going to get out?' I whispered my mind reeling at the possibilities of us getting caught. This was so damn risky!

'Shut the fuck up woman. We know what the hell we're doing' Hidan hissed as we reached a different elevator. I raised an eyebrow at Itachi as we sidled into it.

'prisoner elevator.' He muttered as the gears whirred and I groaned at the slight pressure it put on my already pulverised body. The ride up seemed so much longer as eventually the steel doors opened into another long white walled corridor. Itachi and Kakuzu ushered me along as Hidan followed up the rear. Itachi led us through hallway after hallway as I felt my consciousness beginning to fade. I hadn't had food only meagre amounts of water for the longest time.

'we need to move Itachi, she cant keep consciousness much longer' Kakuzu muttered as I fought to keep focused as I felt my familiar insanity start to well forward.

'you know what. We should kill everyone here!' I giggled as everyone turned to look at me. I couldn't help but grin. 'It would be so easy, all we need are some good bombs and then poof! Everyone's gone! Either that or we could just hack through them one by one.' I tried to pull the haze back but it didn't seem to want to leave as I felt someone press up against my back.

'you should speak like this more often bitch. I might just have to fuck you' Hidan's voice was low and raspy as I felt a hand trail loosely over my hip. My gaze sharpened as I felt Kakuzu move me to remove his hand.

'Hey fucker what are you doing!?' Hidan snapped as Kakuzu moved me away from Hidan.

'There is no way I'd fuck you. Besides, if you touch me like that again. I have tactics for removing body parts without having to use a weapon of any sort.' I left the threat hanging as Itachi started walking and Kakuzu turned me around to follow. I started humming as I was whisked along another bland hallway before Itachi ushered us into another elevator. Dear god wanted to stab something, feel blood splatter and hear the whoosh as air escaped their lungs for the last time. Maybe this would come to a fight… I hoped it would as I tried to shake my head pushing back the haze. What the hell was wrong with me? My brain was probably too tired to actually put a series of coherent thoughts together or to deal with anything my sense perceived as real.

'How much fucking further Itachi?' Hidan growled as the door opened and I was nearly blinded. The elevator opened onto the 'roof' or the top of Hokage mountain as there were a few Anbu guards milling about. We seemed to walk right past them as I noticed that they weren't living and had been propped up on wooden pikes that seemed to have been skewered brutally into the lower backs.

'Move' Itachi commanded as I was hefted and slung over Kakuzu's shoulder like a bag of rocks as we rocketed into the trees. It seemed like seconds as we stopped and heard an alarm bring raised as sirens went off from the direction we had just come.

Suddenly a thought hit me. I was free. The Akatsuki had saved me. I felt tears welling up as my vision was spotting and a migraine hit me full force.

'Kasumi?' I heard Itachi's silken voice as my world swam under.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Killing the Anbu guards had been easy, not ripping them to shreds had been the hard part for Kisame as he sat waiting in the shadows of the surrounding forest. They had raced for Konoha as soon as Itachi had been awake enough to give them instructions on what to do.

Lucky for them they had run into an Anbu patrol just outside of Konoha that was easily disposed of and their outfits stolen. Sadly he had been too big to fit the tight form fitting Anbu gear so he had been left as a guard to make sure no other Anbu were to come across their little plan.

'this sucks' he groaned leaning against the trunk of the tree as he checked the area again. It seemed that no one other than the special ops came up here. He could tell why no one came up here, it was boring as hell.

He tapped his fingers against the rough bark. They were aching to grab Samehada and shred into something to relieve his irritation.

What the hell was taking so long?

He glanced at the sky noticing that roughly an hour had passed since they had entered the prison through the prisoner elevator. He hadn't noticed any movement in or around the elevator or immediate area.

He really had cussed himself out on the way here for his moment of stupidity letting her disappear right from beside him. She had been right there! He knew that leader would send her to look after Itachi, Itachi was one of the elite that needed to survive at all costs. Kasumi had grown so much in the last little while in being with the Akatsuki. She was now an efficient fighter and could hold her own in most battles. But it seemed that she needed more training in defending herself from multiple attackers.

A flicker of black caught his attention as the elevator doors opened to reveal three Anbu and a very tattered, white haired girl who was moving very stiffly.

She couldn't walk. The thought hit him immediately as he suddenly wondered what kind of torture she had undergone within the 6 days it had taken them to rally and execute their plan.

Kisame watched as she crumpled and Kakuzu lifted her over his shoulder. Immediately an alarm went off as he cursed and slung samehada. Anbu seemed to crawl through the base like enraged ants as Itachi landed lightly on the branch above Kisame.

'how bad?' he asked as Itachi glanced down.

'hn' he grunted as Kisame felt sick. That tone meant 'pretty bad' in Itachiese as Kisame turned to follow the smaller man. Itachi set a very rapid pace as Hidan cursed trying to follow and Kakuzu was slowed by Kasumi as Kisame watched her hair flick limply back and forth as Kakuzu ran. He could see burns on her arm and various bruises and lacerations. He bet that she had broken bones too and no chakra to fix it either.

In that moment he vowed he would do everything in his power to teach her everything he knew. Teach her to be the best ninja the world had ever seen as they turned sharply to the south leaving the sounds of the alarms far behind.


	16. Medic To The Rescue!

Hidan and Kakuzu split from the group and headed north on another job for money for leader as Kakuzu handed over kasumi to Kisame. He handled her gently noticing the bruising and swelling on her arms, and her face. Itachi watched his partner gently handle the girl as he realised how extensive her damage was.

'Itachi, we have to get her to Tobi quickly' he grunted as Itachi gave a single nod before they were flying through the trees again.

Kasumi didn't stir even once as they ducked and dodged over trees and boulders. Soon their pace slowed as Itachi showed signs of fatigue.

'Itachi, don't push yourself if you're feeling unwell' Kisame called as the Uchiha slowed their rapid run to a walk along one of the many spider web like roads that littered fire country. Itachi had gone a shade paler than he normally was as Kisame caught up to the Uchiha and put a hand on the teens forehead. He was really warm as Itachi pushed his hand away and continued on.

'Itachi' Kisame growled as the Uchiha shot Kisame a dark look before glancing at Kasumi. Kisame knew that Kasumi was in worse shape than Itachi but poisons could do more overall damage if left unchecked. 'at least take another vial of antidote' Kisame bargained as Itachi nodded and Kisame handed over kasumi's backpack.

Kisame shifted Kasumi gently as he checked her pulse. It was pretty slow and her blood pressure was low as Kisame noticed Itachi stab his thigh with a vial of antidote. Kisame took the backpack once again as they continued their walk. It wasn't far to the hideout as they passed a few travellers on the road who gave concerned looks as the duo passed with Kasumi tucked snugly in Kisame's arms simply looking like a tired child against Kisame's bulk.

'Kisame! Itachi!' Kisame's head whipped up at the sound of a familiar childish voice as Tobi came scrambling down from a tree bowing under the weight of the peaches it bore. It seemed that Deidara had sent Tobi to guide them back to the house as Tobi showed them the large basket of peaches he had collected.

'Look! Tobi is a good boy he found peaches! Tobi is going to make peach Pie for kasumi when she gets home!' Tobi giggled as Kisame sighed through his teeth.

'Tobi we need to go home so you can look after her okay?' Kisame said quietly as Tobi finally noticed Kasumi tucked into the shark ninja's arms before freaking out.

'IS KASUMI OKAY?!?! THOSE BAD BAD KONOHA NINJA!!!' Tobi screeched as Deidara hit him with one of the ripe fruit.

'Keep it down do you want that Anbu patrol to know where we are you idiot yea?!' Deidara snapped as Tobi seemed to sulk before looking more closely as Kasumi. She was so pale and beaten as Itachi moved forward.

'We need to get her to Sasori.' He grunted as Tobi scurried on a head to warn Sasori of what was going on as Deidara fell into step with Kisame's long strides. He stared at her as Kisame kept moving.

'How bad yea?' Deidara asked gently touching one of Kasumi's hands and wincing as he traced a few of her broken fingers gently.

'We don't know. Really bad.' Kisame sounded so defeated as the new hideout came into view. Kisame didn't stop moving as Tobi ran to catch them and led them back to the infirmary where Sasori had already set out all of the equipment they had so far. Kisame was torn as he set her on the bed and gently moved her hair away from her face. It was shocking how beaten up she was as he noticed her broken fingers and dark bruises that seemed to mar every inch of her visible skin.

It sickened him at how he could let this happen to someone who he knew he had a bond with.

'Itachi, get Kisame out of here. He's in shock' Sasori motioned to the Uchiha as Itachi stepped up and grabbed the cloak on Kisame's shoulder attempting to drag him from the room. Kisame looked like he had seen a ghost as he was dragged down the hall by Itachi. How this worked, neither of the duo knew but soon Itachi had forced Kisame into sitting on the severely beaten couch and had turned on the Tv.

Neither of them watched it as Kisame just stared at his knees his mind racing a million miles a second. Itachi watched his partner closely as he noticed how Kisame was shaking, it was starting to scare him at how shaken Kisame was over seeing what had happened to Kasumi.

'I have to tell her Itachi. I have to tell her before she dies' Kisame whispered as Itachi raised an eyebrow.

'she's not going to die Kisame' he stated as Kisame didn't look up or even react to the Uchiha.

'Maybe not today, but I'm not going to let her die alone' he muttered once again as Itachi sighed and glared at his partner.

'So you're willing to throw away all the Akatsuki has worked for?!' Itachi snapped as Kisame turned to the smaller man with a straight face.

'yes I am Itachi. She is worth more to me than this organization' he snapped as Itachi stood, sharingans activated.

'You're being foolish Hoshigaki!' The Uchiha snapped as Kisame didn't move from the couch and looked up at Itachi with a sarcastic smile.

'you have no idea Itachi, but I'm not about to let her slip through my fingers like Mizu did.' He muttered as Itachi just stared at his partner. Honestly, no one knew that Kisame blamed himself for how the events with Mizu played out. He remembered the last time he saw her standing in his apartment.

_-flashback-_

_They had been planning for well over a year now and all of the hard work, blood, sweat and tears were finally about to be put to action. He had finished re-bandaging Samehada as the sword clacked happily as he heard Mizu's light footsteps enter the kitchen. _

'_Kisame, why didn't you meet me at the restaurant last night?!' she demanded as he cursed his own stupidity. They had a last minute meeting going over the plans of the main mizukage's building and their routes and the targets they were to take out. Needless to say the meeting had run over and she had been gone by the time he arrived at the restaurant. _

_This plotting had been taking a severe toll on his relationship with Mizu. He had been spending an increasing amount of time with the other swordsmen plotting against the government and accidentally was blowing off Mizu for meetings or being late for their dates because of the importance of getting every detail right. _

'_I'm sorry, I…. lost track of the time training' he lied as she glared at him crossing her arms over her ample chest her green eyes flashing. Mizu was not a slight woman, no one was in mist but she was curvy like an hour glass with long black hair as she glared at him in her mission gear. _

'_Fuck Kisame I told you I was leaving on a week long mission today! I thought we could've at least had a nice supper before I head out.' She snapped as he sighed and got up from the table and went to embrace her as she slapped his arms away. _

_The smack stung but not as much as her shoving him away did as she picked up her bag. _

'_I have had enough Kisame Hoshigaki. You keep blowing me off for training, working late, research, just about everything and I'm sick of it! If you want to be in my life then you better damn well make time for me. I'll be home in a week. See if you can make up your mind as to if you REALLY want me in your life!' she growled glaring at him over her shoulder. _

'_Mizu! I'm sorry!' he managed to get in between her and the door as she glared at him with such animosity he froze. 'how about I take the week off when you get back and we can go to the ocean for the week how does that sound?' he bargained as she reached for the doorknob under his arm. _

'_Maybe Kisame. Maybe' she snapped and was gone leaving him standing in his little apartment quite alone, very upset and quite confused. _

He had ignored Mizu he realised. He should've also seen the signs that she had started cheating on him while he was away. He saw all the signs now looking back and it all pointed to that bastard the mizukage.

He wasn't going to let Kasumi slip through his fingers and turn on him like Mizu did. This time he knew he wouldn't fight back if Kasumi turned on him. He had to tell her, he had to otherwise it could potentially kill him. He knew Itachi would be pissed and Deidara and Tobi would be overjoyed, most of the others wouldn't care and Leader would probably have a shit fit but knowing that it was Kasumi leader wouldn't come down so hard on him in the end probably.

Footsteps came down the hall as Kisame looked up to see Konan looking quite irate as she flopped down on the couch beside Kasumi. Kisame knew better than to ask Konan what was bugging her unless he wanted papercuts in unmentionable places.

'he is such an asshole!' Konan grumbled as Kisame glanced over at her. She was rapidly folding little slips of paper into cranes as she ranted to herself. 'I ask if we can go to rain and he's like oh no, we cant go there it's the rainy season we could get flooded. Then he realizes the other base might be found and he torches the damn thing and sends hidan and Kakuzu to get a new one in thunder country. Dammit and why wont he sleep with me?!' she roared the last part as Kisame stood quickly and left.

Konan definitely needed some alone time… LOTS of alone time as he headed to his bedroom.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear god, I hurt EVERYWHERE! I rolled my head to the left and cracked open an eye to see a dimly lit room. My neck protested at the movement as I raised my arm and realized it was splinted as were my fingers. I could move them barely as I dropped my arm to the bed.

My throat was dry as I noticed a glass of water beside my bed. This was going to be excruitating as I pulled myself so I was reclining against the cushions instead of lying down. I looked down at my hands realizing I had to mend the bones in one of them a little more if I wanted to have use of my hands. I pushed my chakra into the bones and began the healing process. I was glad someone had been kinda enough to give me some pain medications as I finished healing my hands and forearms almost completely.

I lay back and caught my breath before undoing the bandaging on one arm to reveal new skin obviously where someone had healed a burn with chakra as I quickly redressed it and took the splints off my arms. I had gauze taped over my right eye as I felt stitches very close to my original scar. I quickly healed the gashes as the stitches popped out and I pulled the gauze off. The whole torture seemed like a bad dream now as I grabbed the glass of water and drank it greedily. The cold liquid felt so soothing against my throat as I finished the glass and lay back. I knew I had had some serious healing done on me within the last few days as I checked my system. Whomever had looked after me had done a good job as I slowly mended the last of the tears in my various organs and fractures in my bones.

I wondered where everyone was as I heard the whoosh of wind in leaves and birdsong from a window which had the curtains drawn. It must've been early morning as I lay there. It all seemed to surreal, being captured, the torture, the questions. I was happy with myself that I hadn't given them any significant information about the Akatsuki.

The best feeling was knowing that I was wanted, that I was important enough that the Akatsuki would come looking for me once I went missing.

I was needed and wanted.

A flood of warmth seemed to run through me at the thought, it was so… wonderful and exhilarating! I lay there as I noticed I once again had to pee, damn being human. I sighed and struggled to sit up. I hurt so much as I managed to get to my feet with the assistance of a chair and the table beside my bed. I tottered for a moment before taking a few steps to the bathroom door.

I felt like a toddler as my body protested any movement as I closed the bathroom door and sat on the toilet. Really, life shouldn't be this painful. Maybe nerve endings were over rated for pain, we should just abolish them as I felt a spasm in my leg from my weakened muscles. How long had I been asleep? The sleep deprivation in Konoha had been brutal and the beatings with lack of sleep had obviously taken their toll.

I stood and washed my hands having to lean heavily on the sink before tottering back to my bed. It was going to take quite some time to get over this. Interestingly enough my first thought was to Kisame and my training, the recent events would definitely put us off for a while until I recovered enough to stand and walk around without flopping over like a rag doll. That reminded me where the hell were my daggers?

It was still quiet as the sun became brighter and the wind picked up a little bit. I wondered where we were seeing as I didn't hear bamboo clacking together as a chakra flare near by alerted me to the men waking. I knew Tobi would probably be the one to check on me as I closed my eyes and just rested. I felt more flares as people were waking and getting up, Kisame's was the most noticeable as I jumped when I felt his flare. Such a massive storage of chakra shouldn't be possible for one being as I felt the flares move to various places around me.

All of their training had paid off. I was becoming a very efficient ninja piece by piece and I wondered if I would be able to defeat any of them in training now. Probably not because they were elite ninja and didn't fight by the rules as I had found out the last time I had gone training when Kisame had nearly drown me.

There was shuffling outside of my door as it slid open soundlessly and I watched Sasori quietly step in and close the door behind him. He didn't seem to notice I was awake as he went and pulled out a few needles and syringes and filled them with various liquids. I heard the door open again as I saw Deidara stick his head in.

'Is Kisame in here yea?' Sasori shook his head as Deidara looked miffed before walking into the room. 'that blue bastards been disappearing on and off for a solid week now yea. Itachi is getting pissy because he cant find Kisame and Leader has us running around like morons making sure Konoha is coming after us yea' He grumbled as Sasori sighed and turned to where I was lying.

'I've been dealing with nothing but injuries since we came here Deidara. Now Kakuzu seems to have managed to break a leg. I hope kasumi gets out of this coma soon because I need help.' He grumbled as I turned and looked at the two of them.

Both of them jumped as I gave them a bit of a smile and sat up a little bit more.

'You're alright yea!' Deidara exclaimed before grasping me in a back breaking hug as I tired not to grunt in pain as I felt Sasori give me some pain killers. I felt the ache and throbbing dull away as Deidara pulled back and sat on the side of my bed.

'How long have I been out?' I asked as Deidara scrunched up his face obviously doing the math as Sasori gave me my answer.

'About 8 days or so. You took quite a beating.' He said as Deidara nodded looking grave as I rolled my shoulders making them pop and crack before I swung my legs out over the side of the bed.

'Hold up there cowgirl yea' Deidara said putting hands on my shoulders as I glanced at him. 'You're definitely not well enough to go traipsing around the hideout yet yea' he scolded as I gave him a look that dared him to try to keep me here.

'She's as stubborn as Hidan when it comes to things it seems Deidara. Go find her some proper clothing and then you can escort her to the living room' Sasori said as the blonde strode quickly from the room. I turned to Sasori as he returned to the cupboard. I was about to ask him about Kisame as he beat me to the punch.

'Kisame has been sick for the last few days. I think he's managed to get the flu. Either way he's been bed ridden for the last 3 days and Itachi has been looking after him. I'm sorry but I need you on your feet as soon as possible to help me.' He gave me a slight smile before setting all of the instruments away. I nodded and shifted, the painkillers he had given me were working amazingly well as I was able to sit up without a great deal of pain now.

'I'll give you a hand checking on Kakuzu Sasori' I muttered as the little red head glanced over his shoulder at me.

'that would be very helpful. I'm going to make sure Kisame is getting enough liquids' he gave me a nod and left as no sooner had the door closed as Deidara was marching through with a bundle of black and green in his arms. He deposited the bundle in my lap before sitting at the foot.

'You have no clothing and we have to go shopping yea' he said staring at me seriously as I shook my head and grabbed the green sweater and baggy black capris that I assumed were mine because of the cut. Deidara stood and helped me to my feet as I more or less staggered to the bathroom and changed after falling into the tub more than once and causing Deidara to ask if I was alright.

I hated being virtually useless as I managed to get out of the bathroom and only had Deidara catch me when my foot caught on the lip of the bathroom doorstop. Oh how embarrassing. I managed to get back on my feet as Deidara kept a hand on my arm as he allowed me to lean on him.

Then something licked my arm. I looked down and remembered the fact about Deidara's hands as he looked sheepish and fiddled with something under his bangs.

'sorry yea, cant control them sometimes yea' he muttered as I shrugged and grabbed his other hand looking at the mouth.

'So how did you get these?' I wondered as he gently pulled his hand away from me.

'It's a weird bloodline limit yea. My entire family has them like Kisame's gills or Itachi's eyes yea' he explained as I nodded and had to lean on him as my leg decided to give out. He grunted under my weight but kept us standing as I managed to stand again.

'Well its definitely unique. Can we go to Kakuzu's room? I told Sasori I'd check on him and fix his broken leg' I explained as Deidara gave me a weird look before taking another corridor and ushering me down it. I heard Hidan's voice before we came to the room, it wasn't loud which shocked me slightly. He was having a quiet conversation with Kakuzu it seemed as Deidara slid the door open and the profanity started.

'DAMMIT DEIDARA WHAT THE FUCK?!?!' Hidan spat as I noticed the jashinist was standing shirtless and wrapping bandages around his chest from what looked like stab wounds. I gave him a glare as Deidara helped me over to the bed where Kakuzu was lying looking like he was in extreme pain as I looked at his splinted right leg. Hidan was spouting profanity as Deidara was ignoring him and I put my hand on Kakuzu's leg.

'this is going to hurt' I warned him as he gave a nod and I took a look around at the break. Kakuzu was lucky the was a simple clean break that looked like he hand been grabbed and thrown. I sat back as Kakuzu glanced over at me, he had obviously had this break for a few days as I looked at the other two in the room. 'I need someone to get me some pain killers' I asked as Hidan grabbed a needle and a vial of clear liquid off of the table. It seemed that Sasori had been waiting for me to wake up to help him as I gave Kakuzu the pain killer.

It turned out it was a sedative as Kakuzu dropped asleep within a few minutes. I was really surprised as Hidan poked his partner a few times with the end of his scythe but when he got no response he gave up and left saying that it was no fun if I didn't make him suffer. Stupid Hidan. I went to work on Kakuzu's leg, thankfully The bone was healing in a good place so I just helped the healing along so that he would be able to walk if somewhat stiffly in a few hours.

I finished as a wave of fatigue rushed over me and I had to lean against the footboard of Kakuzu's bed as Deidara came over to check on me.

'Are you alright Kasumi yea?' he asked as I nodded and he helped me up. I was too tired to stand as my legs gave up and Deidara quickly caught me. I was too heavy for him to carry as he set me gently on the floor as Tobi skipped into the room.

'Ah Kasumi! Kisame wanted to see you so Tobi came to find Kasumi because Sasori said that kasumi was awake. Why is kasumi on the ground senpai? Did kasumi hurt herself?' he sounded anxious looking between me and Deidara as the blonde looked about ready to punch Tobi.

'No Tobi shes fine but help me carry her to Kisame's room if he wants to see her so bad yea' he grumbled as Tobi nodded enthusiastically and picked me up like I weighted nothing. I was shocked as Deidara seemed stunned as Tobi started walking away with me in his arms. Deidara followed still sputtering as to how Tobi was carrying me and I was probably the same or greater weight than he was.

I didn't complain I didn't have to walk as Tobi marched right along seemingly ignorant that I probably weighed as much or more than he dad as we turned a corner and I heard rough coughing. I guessed Kisame really was sick as Tobi slid the door open with his foot and stepped in.

'Tobi found Kasumi Kisame!' Tobi chirped happily and set me on the bed beside the shark man before hopping over to a tray he had probably brought earlier and skipped back carrying what I assumed was a bowl of chicken noodle soup from the looks of it.

'Hey Kasumi' Kisame grunted as I looked at him. He sounded so stuffed up and his baritone was raspy as I looked at him. He was flushed, a light blue purple colour and he looked like he needed to sleep for about a week. I shifted so I was sitting against the head of his bed with him as Tobi handed him the soup.

'Kasumi, I see Tobi found you' Sasori's voice was quiet as the small boy walked in and Deidara grinned. Deidara went to say something the redhead as he was cut off. 'Deidara I need you to go into town and pick up a few things. We're running low.' Sasori said as Deidara looked put out and opened his mouth to complain as he was cut off again. 'but if you go I managed to get extra money from Kakuzu so you can get something for yourself if you want.' Sasori bribed the blonde and waved some money and a white list in his face as Deidara snatched the money and list with glee.

'alright yea, come on Tobi yea' Deidara ordered as Tobi scampered after his sempai. That left me Sasori and the bed ridden Kisame in the room as Sasori checked Kisame's temperature much to the irritating of Kisame and gave him some medicine before turning to me with a slight smirk.

'I have a mission with Hidan and the other two are gone. I need you to stay here with Kisame, Kakuzu can walk now but not far so he should be fine.' Sasori explained as I nodded and Kisame looked a little green before he all but ran to the bathroom where I heard the distinct sound of vomiting. Sasori and I both stared at the door as he picked up the half eaten bowl of soup.

'good luck Kasumi. I suggest getting him some rest' Sasori gave me one of his smirk smiles again as I turned to him.

'Did you tell Deidara to get some kind of sports drink?' I asked as Sasori looked confused as shook my head. 'It replenishes the salts and sugars lost when people cant keep food down very well.' I explained as Sasori nodded.

'I'll tell Zetsu to contact him' he said as I nodded and the redhead was gone.

Now to deal with the puking shark ninja.

Poor Kisame was so sick as I managed to stumble my way to the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth. Thankfully he didn't make a mess as he spit and rinsed out his mouth before turning off the taps. I put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight rub as he glanced at me.

'You pulled through well. I was worried you weren't going to be able to make it back to the base' he mumbled as I gently took his arm and led him back to his bed trying my best not to let how weak I was right now show.

'yes, I'm fine just a little tired. Come on, you're the one who is really sick. You should lie down' I said as he didn't try to fight me and lay down in his bed as I pulled the blankets around him before crawling in beside him. He seemed quite content where he was as a coughing fit wracked him and I ended up rubbing his back as the coughing ended in a dry heave.

Being sick like this was definitely not fun. I wondered where he could've been to pick something like this up as he groaned and rolled over to face me. He was more flushed than ever as I gently touched his face, he was really warm as I climbed over him again. I was about halfway across his legs when a large hand grabbed my arm.

'where are you going?' he whined almost childishly as I glanced up at him. His golden eyes were misty from the fever as I gave him my best attempt at a smile.

'just to the bathroom to get you a cool cloth alright?' I said as He sighed and nodded as I quickly grabbed a wash cloth and ran it through cool tap water before returning with a small basin I had found under the sink now filled with cool tap water as I came to sit beside him. He still had his headband/ ear protector on as I gently tried to remove it. Needless to say it was a bad decision on my part as Kisame freaked out.

'what are you doing?!' he roared as I jumped back from the angry shark ninja as I put my hand on my hip and tried to look intimidating.

'taking off your headband because its making you even warmer than you should be. Now either I can take it off or you can.' I said as he stared at me like he was challenging me to try. 'One, two, three!' I lunged and pulled the thing clean off as Kisame made a wild swing to grab it but ended up punching me in the chest instead as I crashed to the floor completely winded.

'Fuck kasumi are you okay?!' he called as I gasped in air and sat up. The room was spinning as I sat there for a minute.

'I'm alright' I tried to reassure him as I knew a couple of ribs were cracked from that blow to the chest as I did my best to heal them. I managed to get back to sitting on the bed as Kisame looked really shy suddenly. I stared at him, what the hell? He was acting so weird as I wrung out the wash cloth and put it on his forehead.

'Arent you freaked out?' Kisame's question caught me by surprise as I turned and stared at him. He looked angry and a little scared as I wondered why I would be 'freaked out' by him. 'My ears don't scare you at all?' he asked blatantly as I turned and looked at his ears. So Kisame had been using a genjutsu when we had gone out to the bar, in reality Kisame's ears were slightly pointed kinda like fins as I touched one. I clearly surprised the hell out of Kisame as he jumped and caught my hand.

'what are you doing?!' he gasped as I laughed and crawled over him to lie down beside him.

'Well, you have nice ears Kisame. I wish mine were pointy then something about me would be cool' I muttered trying to stifle a yawn. Kisame's bed was just so damn comfy 'Now how about we take a nap?' I muttered already snuggled into the bed as I felt Kisame move and a heavy arm drape over me.

'okay' was all I heard from Kisame as I let myself drift off to sleep.


	17. Colds and walking

I awoke a few hours later to hear low rumbling as I cringed realizing it was thunder. I snuggled closer to the large body beside me as there was a sigh and I was covered by something extremely warm as another roll of thunder peeled through along with the sound of rain.

'Well Sasori said that he as Zetsu would be gone for the better part of a week yea' Deidara's low Alto reached my ears as Tobi's excited chirps followed.

'yes and Senpai is to make sure that Kasumi is being taught again!' Tobi seemed to tag along where ever the blonde arsonist went much to my amusement as I heard their footsteps near the door. I closed my eyes and feinted sleep as I heard the door clack open. I could tell that Kisame wasn't really deeply asleep either as I allowed myself to drift and slow my breathing and heart rate to a state close to sleep.

'Well that's everything Sasori asked for yea' Dediara said as I heard a thud of stuff being set on the desk and the old couch springs squeak as I assumed Tobi flopped down.

'Is Kisame going to tell Kasumi his feelings sempai?' Tobi's question made me freeze.

What?!

I heard Deidara sigh and shift walking away from the bed where I assumed I was nearly hidden under Kisame's bulk since he had rolled over and pulled me against him like a rag doll.

'I'm not sure Tobi yea.' He sighed as the couch springs squeaked again.

'Tobi knows! Sempai and Tobi should get Kisame and kasumi together!' there was a shark whack before a very distinct Tobi wail. 'Sempai is mean to Tobi!' he wailed as Deidara gave a grunt.

'don't be stupid Tobi yea. Kisame would kill us if he knew and I don't want to think of what Kasumi might do you yea' there was a pause as I assumed both of them shuddered before Tobi broke the silence.

'but when if Tobi and sempai do it secretly?' Tobi said quietly as I heard the couch springs squeak.

'Maybe Tobi yea. I'm hungry how about I order Italian yea?' he said as I heard Tobi scramble to catch up.

'Can Tobi get fettuccini?' he exclaimed as Deidara's and Tobi's voices faded down the hall. I sighed and sat up as Kisame mumbled in his sleep before coughing and rolling over. I turned and felt his forehead, his fever had gone down but he was still a little warm as I climbed out of bed. My body still felt heavy and tired as I wondered if they had and crutches lying around as I stood and shuffled over to the bowl of water I had left on the desk. Deidara had left a paper bag with sports drinks in it as I pulled the large bottles out of the packaging and gently shook his shoulder.

'Kisame?' he stirred as I continued shaking his massive shoulder as gold eyes opened and looked at me.

'What?' he grunted as I placed the bottle of orange sports drink in his line of vision. He gave it an odd look as I placed it in his hand.

'Drink it, It'll help you feel better' I said sitting on the side of the bed as he propped himself up and sipped at the orange drink. I hated orange myself probably because it was what sensei had given me once when I was really sick in wave country. I had never vomited so much in my life as that week I was there. It was brutal.

Kisame was sipping the drink as I was thankful he didn't try to chug it down like most children would. He had to alternate between coughing, sneezing and drinking as I had to find another box of tissues for the poor guy.

The door opened as I saw a blonde ponytail bob through before Deidara and Tobi appeared and seemed surprised that I was awake and that Kisame was too.

'Sempai ordered Italian and Tobi is getting fettuccini!' Tobi exclaimed jumping into the room and tripping into Deidara knocking them both to the floor.

'Tobi you idiot yea!' Dei snapped from his position on the floor as he punched Tobi. Tobi wailed as a wrestling match ensued and I just watched. Honestly those two were like four year olds as I threw the empty tissue box at them. It harmlessly bounced off the back of Deidara's head as they continued to fight. I glanced at Kisame noticing his eyes was twitching a little at the noise.

'you alright?' I asked as he turned to me.

'nose isn't helping my headache' he mumbled as I stood and stepped over to the duo and grabbed both of their collars and pulled them apart with chakra as Dei was still swinging as Tobi was trying to kick Deidara.

'STOP NOW!' I roared as they both froze and looked at me. I was not in the mood as they both seemed to notice and stopped immediately. I glared at the duo as Deidara got to his feet and so did Tobi. They both didn't say anything as Deidara left in somewhat of a huff, probably because he had something to say to me but wouldn't dare with Kisame in the room as Tobi turned to me.

'Tobi will get you when the food is here okay?' he said as I nodded and he scampered off in the opposite direction that Deidara stomped. I glanced back as Kisame who was now drinking the second litre of sports drink as I stepped out to go check on Kakuzu.

I was glad the building was arranged in a giant square this time and was much smaller as I looked for kakuzu's chakra flare in any of the rooms. It took me a few minutes of wandering the halls before I found the room. I could tell he was awake as I knocked on the frame. Bursting in on Kakuzu was definitely not something I wanted to do as I heard a 'come in' before I slid the door open.

He was sitting reading his paper as I walked into the room and approached the bed.

'How are you?' I asked as he folded the paper and turned shocking green eyes to me. I realised that this was the first time I had seen Kakuzu without all of his headgear on. He was quite a handsome man but he was incredibly scarred and had stitches in the sides of his mouth and along his body. It was quite strange as he shrugged and moved his leg somewhat stiffly.

'It's stiff and a little sore but that's it' he said as I nodded and gave him some of the pain killers I had found in a little bottle on his paper covered desk. Kakuzu was one of the ones that scared me the most. Honestly, he was so calm most of the time and never really reacted to anything even when he was partners with Hidan that terrified me.

'anything else you need?' I asked as he shrugged and glanced at me.

'there's actually a few books that I want from the library' he said as I nodded and grabbed a pen and a slip of paper from the desk as he told me the titles. They were in a different language as he instructed me the spellings on them before I set off to the library.

It seemed that most of the Akatsuki had finally become accustomed to my presence in the house as I turned the corner and noticed the door to the library was ajar. That was odd as I came closer noticing voices in the library.

'but that doesn't make sense Pein, how could she still be alive?' it was definitely Konan as I heard a lower unforgettable voice.

'It was never confirmed that she died. I've sent Itachi and Sasori to check into it.' I kept moving toward the door as I knocked on the frame. There was silence before Konan's familiar white flower and blue hair was looking at me from the door.

'oh, Kasumi. Can I help you?' she asked with a slight smile. I was taken aback. Konan was being NICE to me? I blinked dumbstruck before she gently took the slip of paper from my hands and scanned it. 'I take it these are for Kakuzu?' she asked as I nodded and she stepped away from the door. I followed as I noticed that whomever she had been talking to was gone when two books were placed in my line of vision.

'thanks' I took the two books as Konan just seemed to give me a small smile and I left. That was so bizarre as I turned the corner to smack into someone's chest. 'sorry!' I apologized and bent to reach for one of the books that had been knocked out of my grasp as I was a familiar orange mask.

'Kasumi! Deidara said that the food will be here soon so Tobi came to get you and Konan!' he giggled as I smiled. Tobi could put anyone in a good mood as I stood.

'Okay, then I'm going to take these to Kakuzu and check on Kisame again alright?' I said as he gave an enthusiastic nod and swept past me toward the library. I shook my head, oh Tobi and continued back to Kakuzu's room. I dropped off the books and headed back to check on Kisame. I didn't bother to knock as I entered his room to notice his bed was empty and the sound of retching was coming from the bathroom. I searched through the cabinet for some gravol to give him to calm his stomach and some sleep aids. Obviously Kisame would not be eating with us tonight as I heard a sigh and a thump from the bathroom.

That was odd.

I walked over and pulled the door open to notice that thankfully there was no mess but he had passed out slumped against the tub. Kisame really was a huge guy as I managed to get over his leg and gently shake his shoulder.

'Kisame, hey, wake up for a second you cant sleep here' I shook him again as he groaned and he blinked a few times before looking at me and cringing.

' 's too bright' he mumbled as I laughed.

'I know here take these and you can go sleep in your nice bed again okay?' I said as Kisame took the medicine without question and took the water too. He was so sick it was scary as he allowed me to essentially talk to him like a five year old. But then again, I doubt Kisame could tell much with that fever as he managed to stand as I took his hand and gently led him out of the bathroom.

I had just stepped over the lip of the bathroom door as I remembered I had forgot to tell Kisame to watch his step as I turned to see Kisame stumble. I put my hands out to catch him as I realized the fatal flaw in this plan as I caught his shoulders before my back smacked into the floor. That was pain as I tried not to yelp at the sheer amount of pain my just healed bones were under as I looked down to see Kisame must've passed out again. But what was even more awkward was the fact that kisame's bedroom door snapped open and I noticed Kisame's face was resting right between my breasts.

Oh how wonderful.

'WHAT IS KISAME DOING TO KASUMI?!?!?!' Tobi squawked as I heard a smack.

'don't be stupid yea. Help her Tobi yea' Deidara sounded highly amused as blonde and orange came into my vision.

'if you two are don't gawking HELP ME!' I roared as Tobi tried to wake Kisame. No luck. I guess those sleeping aids were working really well as I pushed most of my chakra into my arms and heaved I could feel the strain in my muscles as Tobi and Deidara helped until I could roll out of the way and the set him back down. I knew I was going to have to be the one to move him.

'Tobi, grab his leg and Deidara grab the other.' I put my hands under his shoulders as I pushed as much chakra into my muscles as I could as I lifted his shoulders from the floor and balanced it against my chest as I walked over to the bed. Deidara and Tobi looked like they were having a hard time with his dead weight as I set his shoulders on the bed and Deidara and Tobi seemed relieved to be able to let him go.

'Kisame hurt Tobi's arms. Kisame is heavy!' Tobi whined as I rolled my eyes and tucked the shark man in making sure that there was a garbage bucket beside his bed. What ever he had managed to catch it was definitely a bad flu as I ushered the other two out of the room. The next thing I needed was a sick Deidara or Tobi as I ordered them to wash their hands as soon as we got to the kitchen.

The food smelt wonderful as I saw the Styrofoam containers on the table as I heard shuffling from the hallway. Kakuzu was there on a pair of wooden crutches as he seemed to wince at the fact we were having takeout. I knew it was pricey but in light of recent events I think he was going to ignore it seeing as it was only the five of us eating.

Tobi brought over plates and such as Kakuzu and everyone took their usual spots. It felt weird seeing all of the gaps other than the one that was always left open for leader. Konan came in and sat in her usual spot as we all grabbed a container and pulled out what we wanted. There was pasta, pizza, garlic bread, salad as we all ate as much as we could and there was still mountains of food left.

'Well, I hope Kisame gets better soon. He loves Spaghetti' Konan muttered as I started packing back up the left overs in the containers. Everyone started talking idly as I put the packages into the fridge and Deidara helped me do the dishes. Kakuzu disappeared as I stifled a yawn as a wave of fatigue came over me. Deidara shoved my shoulder and waved a hand toward the kitchen exit as I gave him a smirk and left heading back to Kisame's room.

I didn't realise how tired I was as I entered his room. It was dark as I turned on a little lamp that was on the desk as I noticed Kisame was still sleeping and it looked like he hadn't woken since I had given him those medications earlier as I sat on the bed beside him. He was still flushed as I got another cold cloth and some water and lay it on his forehead.

I really had changed a great deal in the past few months I realised as I pushed some of Kisame's hair out of his face. The world didn't seem as jagged, unfair, and tiresome. Now it had… enjoyable moments, moments in general, and people who actually seemed to like me as a person. It was wonderful feeling welcomed, feeling like I was useful and that I mattered.

Kisame sighed in his sleep as I shifted the cloth so that the cold would help his temperature to come down. In that moment something hit me that I hadn't realised before. Not only did I matter to others but I had someone who mattered to me. Sitting in that dark dank cell had made me realise how attached I was to Kisame. He was one of the only people who hadn't told me I was useless or stupid for not being able to do something right away. He had patience and trained me, even enlisted the help of his friends and team mates to train me. I hadn't realised that Kisame had become such a vital fixture in my life, and in all honest if anything were to happen to him… I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Life as a ninja was hard, life as a renegade ninja was insanity as I had come to realise. But still Kisame seemed to forget all of that as did the rest of the Akatsuki and just live without alliances or loyalty to anyone but whom they chose to.

Kisame grunted as large gold eyes cracked open as I gave a slight smile.

'hey you feeling better?' I asked as he groaned and put a hand to his head.

'I feel like a train wreck is in my head' his voice was rough as I handed him a glass of water that he drank greedily to try to fix his dry throat. 'thank you' he muttered as I took the glass back and set it on the desk.

Silence ensued as I heard him shift until he was lying down again. I was so tired, I really had done a great deal lately especially after recovering as Kisame patted the bed beside him.

'You're exhausted. Did Sasori have you looking after both yourself, me and Kakuzu?' he asked anger seeping into his tone as I tried not to wince at the steel in his tone. I nodded as I heard a sigh and familiar arms and hands wrapped themselves around me and pulled me up beside him. 'Sleep, I can look after myself now.' He said as I nodded. Same Kisame, polite but to the point as I rolled onto my side facing him and immediately fell asleep.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kisame lay awake for quite some time after that. Kasumi, the girl had been pushing herself looking after him and Kakuzu so soon after being tortured by the Anbu squad. How this organization functioned with its lack of manners was beyond him.

Kasumi was snuggled into his side as he tangled a hand in her long soft hair. He coughed as he sighed and took a drink of water, this cold was brutal he hoped she wouldn't catch it as he looked at her curvy frame curled on her side.

He was damn lucky.

He knew now that he loved Kasumi. He knew that he would do anything for her, anything, and part of that was going to be pushing her to be the best she could be. Hell, he'd even beg Itachi for help. He would go far enough to push his pride aside and ask the other Akatsuki for help. That was defiantly something. He hadn't been that willing with Mizu even, but this girl had changed something in him, some brutal animalistic instinct seemed to be quenched by her very presence.

Silently he opened a desk drawer and pulled out the piece of paper that Tobi and Deidara had left him earlier as he laughed at it once again. Those two had planned a set of traps to try to get him and kasumi together. He knew none of them would work. Kasumi was much too smart to fall for something the two of them could cook up.

But this was killing him not knowing if kasumi felt the same way. Well obviously she felt something seeing as she was sleeping in his bed currently curled against him like a kitten. No this plan would have to take a little more time and effort on his part if he wanted to see if anything were to come of it.

Now, to see how this could pan out as he lay beside kasumi and once again drifted to sleep.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next week passed by in a slow routine. I'd do regular checks on Kakuzu and Kisame both seemed to be doing well as by Friday Kisame was out training in the back with Tobi, Deidara and I as had become part of our routine. For a few days he had merely instructed me on how to throw the daggers and gain accuracy with the light little objects as the one time I missed and took about three inches off of Deidara's ponytail.

I didn't think my ears would ever stop ringing after his screeching that day. Honestly that guy was such an uke it was beyond me as to how he functioned. I had successfully kept a watchful eye out for any plans that Deidara and Tobi might of put together to try to get Kisame and I closer together, so far, I was winning. But I noticed that Kisame was acting slightly differently too. Little touches now and again, bumping shoulders more often than usual, he sat closer to me at meals and when generally lounging about the hideout. It was odd but nothing super out of the ordinary for him as I ignored it for the most part.

It was nearing the coldest months of rain country now as little flecks of snow fell covering everything in a fine dusting of snow. It never stayed long because of how damp rain was, it would probably be gone in a few hours if the day warmed up at all. I was wrapped in my Akatsuki cloak for warmth as Deidara had found some old scarves and mitts in a box in a closet somewhere in the house. Needless to say a huge fight had broken out within the house and had moved outside where we had deemed it training. I needed it too seeing as I had gained about ten pounds with all of the inactivity and good food that Tobi seemed to be able to cook. How the guys stayed as toned and thin and still ate three times as much as me I would never know.

The game involved me, Kisame, Deidara, and Tobi while Kakuzu read his paper on the porch since his leg was still healing. And who could get the red hat. Stupid game yes, but I wanted that damn hat because it was so warm!

I ducked a swing from Kisame as Deidara tackled Tobi to the ground before the masked ninja used a replacement jutsu and tried to nab the hat from Kisame. Kisame dodged a well thrown kunai from Tobi as I jumped on his back and yanked at the toque only to find I had been duped by a water clone and had to dodge a swing from samehada that had been aimed for my shoulders as I used Tobi's chest as a spring board and jumped over Deidara who lunged for the hem of my cloak.

It was surprisingly Kisame who caught me as I felt myself hanging from the collar of my cloak as I swung out of it and managed to land behind Kisame as he turned the large ridiculous red toque making his blue skin stand out even more as I charged him. I knew it wouldn't do me much good as I hit him hard in the side. We both fell to the ground as I heard a smack and saw both Tobi and Deidara crash into a tree as I landed with a thud and quickly scrambled to grab the hat.

My fingers felt the scratchy wool as I yanked it off as something hit my side knocking me clean off Kisame and into a puddle of muck that had unthawed as the day had warmed up. I flicked a good chunk of the gunk off of my face as the fight had ended and they were all laughing as Kisame gave me a hand to my feet. I was halfway up as I noticed Tobi had moved as I saw Kisame's left leg suddenly kicked out from underneath him.

There was a look of surprise on the shark nin's face as he plummeted into the muck where I had flopped back into coating myself thoroughly and him as well as he sat up blinking rapidly. I laughed at the mud streaked across his face and in his hair.

'have a nice trip?' I joked as he gave me one of his crazy lopsided grins.

'Hm, well you seem to have a smudge on your face Kasumi' he pointed out as he leaned close to me. I blinked as I noticed how close he was to me as I felt him gently rub some of the mud off of the scar on my eye. I blinked as I looked up into large golden eyes as I noticed that everyone's chakra flares were gone from the area other than Kisame's and mine.

Those sneaky bastards, this whole hat fight had been a ruse. One that I had played into perfectly.

'Where?' I asked kinda stunned, I felt my brain shutting down as he grinned. I could feel my heart jump into my throat as his face came even closer. There was only about an inch between us when his hand moved into my hair.

'Well, here' he said quietly as he kissed me. I was totally shocked as I froze, every single muscle in my body just tensed. I honestly was not sure how to react at all. I had never been kissed before as he moved his hand and I felt warm air against my face before he sighed and pulled away.

The break in contact was so sudden it was like getting dumped in a bucket of cold water as Kisame stood stiffly.

'I am sorry Kasumi. That was in appropriate of me. Please forget that transgression of mine' he said quietly and very politely as he moved back into the house. I sat there frozen. Kisame had just… kissed….. me?

Error, file not found.

My brain shut down it seemed as something suddenly popped up. GO AFTER HIM! Every muscle in my body moved at once as I was running, where did he go? I turned corner after corner as I realised he had left the house through the kitchen door. I turned and smacked into Deidara knocking him to the floor just as Hidan was walking through the door and I shouldered past him knocking him into Konan who was setting up a soggy cloak from her trip to the next town over. I heard a few shouts follow me as I raced off the porch, through the soggy grass and mud into the trees..

Nothing seemed to matter in that moment as I chased after Kisame. Dammit I was so stupid! I should've kissed him back, now he probably felt like he had made a fool of himself as I tried to pinpoint his chakra flare. Kisame travelled fast as I soon found myself running across a long flat lake as my foot steps left little ripples as I ran across it.

I saw similar ripples as the ones my feet were making ahead as a familiar black and red cloak flapped in the wind that was blowing gently across the lake. I came closer as he slowed and stopped not facing me as I caught up. He didn't look at me as I caught my breath. Damn he was fast as I stood there chest heaving and heart rate thundering as Kisame didn't turn to look at me.

'Why did you follow me?' he asked simply as I suddenly realised I really didn't have an answer to that. It just seemed like the logical thing to do. I heard a humourless chuckle that made the hair rise on the back of my neck as I felt the pull of Samehada draining my chakra. 'I didn't think you had an answer. Now go back to the hideout' he said quietly as I didn't move. Dammit THINK! I wasn't good with romance, he had just kissed me and I had locked up.

First thing was first, that kiss. I had known for a while that I was very attached to Kisame. Love? I hadn't a clue, but the feeling of him leaving me was almost unbearable as I stood there.

'Kasumi' Kisame's tone was a warning growl. I knew not to piss him off as my mind was running a thousand miles a second. I saw his hand reach for samehada. I needed to say something and quickly, Dammit! What to say?! I needed to know what I honestly thought of Kisame firstly as I ducked as he swung Samehada at me.

'LEAVE!' he roared as a group of birds took wing for the trees neighbouring the lake. I didn't run though as I saw him tense his shoulders and glance to look back at me. His eyes were for once unguarded as I saw a raw ache there.

That one glance struck me to my core as I took a step forward. Kisame didn't move as I took another, then another as suddenly he swung Samehada toward me. It was so sudden I didn't see the sword move until a flash of red hot pain shot close to where my scar was on my eye as I reeled back. I blinked noticing the crimson staining my vision as I took another step forward blinking the blood out of my eye. He looked utterly pissed and extremely intimidating as I took another step closer.

He took a step back.

I froze.

What on earth was going on? He looked away from me and slung samehada and clenched his fists as if he were battling with himself on forcing himself to stay put.

'Kisame?' I asked gently reaching out a hand toward him as he took another step backward and shook his head.

'I'm sorry Kasumi. I shouldn't have done what I did earlier…..' he drifted off looking at the crisp blue water under his feet. 'you shouldn't love a monster like me' he muttered as everything that had happened in the last few months came rushing back to me. The time, effort, rescues, missions, training, thoughts, comfort, everything hit me as I took another step toward him.

'You're not a monster Kisame' I whispered as he looked up at me. I knew I was bleeding pretty heavily from the head wound as he looked at me with such pain in his face before looking away again.

'yes I am Kasumi. I rip men, women and children limb from limb with my bare hands. I have slaughtered my entire graduating class for recognition, I kill people for a living and enjoy it. I enjoy killing people kasumi. That makes me worse than a monster. I'm a demon, a demon straight from hell itself.' He snapped glaring at me. I stopped about two feet from him. I was so close but still so far away.

'That may be Kisame. But I know that that is not all you are.' I whispered again as he snapped to look at me like I was utterly insane.

'Kasumi, I'm a MASSIVE BLUE SHARK MAN! I HAVE FUCKING GILLS AND POINTED TEETH! I AM AN EVIL DEMON!' He roared as I felt chakra pooling into Samehada. If I wasn't careful I knew he would kill me just for pushing him. I looked at my feet. I could hear his deep breaths as he tried to reign in his temper. I had to try, I just… had to!

'honestly Kisame, your appearance doesn't bother me in the slightest. I mean you gave me a home. You gave me purpose to stay alive. You gave me so much, you haven't a clue. And well….' I took another step toward him as I was now standing right in front of him. He could easily cleave my head from my shoulders as I looked up into his luminous eyes. 'I think it takes someone who has lost it all, someone like me, to love a Demon' I whispered as he seemed to freeze as I reached up and gently pressed my lips against his.

The reaction I had was not expected as his arms wrapped around me and pulled me against him in a bone crushing hug. I felt something wet on my face as I assumed it was blood but soon I realised that he was crying. Something I doubted Kisame ever did as he relinquished his vice like grip and broke away from the kiss resting his forehead against mine.

'It must take someone as crazy as you to love a demon like me Kasumi' he muttered as I grinned and punched his shoulder.

'Of course, I mean honestly, how many women or men have walked willing toward you when you're pissed?' I asked as he chuckled and pulled me in for another warm hug.

'No one except for you' he muttered and kissed my forehead as I felt his fingers gently probe the cut he had given me just over my eye. 'shit that's pretty deep' he cursed as I sighed and put my hand against it. It wasn't too bad and if I healed it properly I knew it wouldn't leave a scar.

'I'll be fine. Now, I'm hungry and it's cold out here' I mumbled as he laughed and pulled me closer to him. How Kisame kept so warm was a mystery to me as we walked back toward the hideout.

'do we have to broadcast this to the others?' I asked as he looked at me.

'of course not. They all assume that we are sleeping together' he murmured as I glared at him.

'thanks for neglecting to tell me this information!' I said cattily as he turned to me with a deadpan look.

'Honestly did you not notice how no one ever came to our room after 9?' he said as I recalled that it was true. Unless we were ill or injured no one bothered to come check on us if we were holed up in either of our rooms.

I really was in a house of men.

Kisame laughed his booming laugh as we neared the hideout to see Tobi, Deidara and a very pissy looking Hidan standing on the porch. By my guess Tobi and Deidara were wondering what had happened after our little plotted moment had gone completely wrong.

We came closer to the house as Deidara's expression shifted to one of shock as he leapt off of the balcony over to where I was. I opened my mouth to explain as Deidara moved past me and punched Kisame squarely on the eye. Both Kisame and I were surprised as I grabbed Deidara around the waist and Kisame grabbed his hands.

'What the fuck did you do to her yeah?!' he snapped as Kisame glared at him his eye starting to swell.

'It was an accident Deidara' I snapped as he was fighting to get out of my grasp and hit Kisame again. I held firm as I felt the wound above my eye reopen as I punched Deidara in the back of the head. He wobbled for a moment before collapsing forward into Kisame as I lifted the blonde. Surprisingly he really wasn't very heavy just lanky as we came close to the porch. Hidan was once again pissing himself laughing as I ignored him and dumped Deidara onto the couch.

Deidara was such a hot head sometimes it surprised me as I felt gentle hands on my forehead. I looked up as Kisame was inspecting the wound above my eye as I flashed a quick smile and pulled back.

'it's fine Kisame, here, watch' I pushed healing chakra into the wound as it slowly knitted closed into smooth light pink new skin. He seemed surprised as I heard Itachi enter the kitchen.

'Kisame, woman. We have a mission' he said quietly. I glared at the Uchiha. So I was back to woman. I knew Itachi would never like me but dammit couldn't he at least accept me? I glanced at Kisame. I knew he wouldn't say much to Itachi, he respected the Uchiha too much as I simply nodded.

Itachi gave us one hour before we were to meet and head out. Instructing us strictly to pack light and expect more than a few battles for this mission. I knew Kisame was excited, he hated being cooped up in this place for too long. I know I did and I really didn't know much of the outside world. But then again I was the lowest rank in the Akatsuki and thanks to Konoha I knew nothing other than the brief glimpses of the outside world of freedom that Kisame had shown me.

I had finished putting my knives in my coat and dressing in the typical Akatsuki issued clothing as there was a knock on my door. I didn't say anything as it opened to reveal Kisame with Samehada slung across his back. Itachi followed as I fastened my cloak in place and took my hat from its place on top of my dresser.

I hoped I hadn't punched Deidara too hard as we headed out noticing he was still on the couch where I had left him. Itachi once again didn't say anything as we left the hideout. It was still cold out and getting colder as we headed west from Rain country. I was thankful that we were walking instead of running because I doubted I could keep up with Itachi as I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck. I hated when it was damp and cold as our breath left little white puffs in the air amongst the soggy looking pines.

Evil weather as I slid my hat back to hang from my neck by its little cord as suddenly it was forced back onto my head.

'Keep your hat on' Kisame grumbled as I glared at him and slung the hat back once again as Kisame stopped and turned to me. His hat hid most of his face as I felt it put firmly back into place. 'We have hats for a reason Kasumi. Wear it while we're walking' he said firmly as I glared at him. Sheesh, Kisame was all business on these stupid missions as Itachi didn't pay us any heed walking on the far side of Kisame from me. Rain was very similar to lightning but without the mountains and much damper as we marched through the narrow winding road.

I didn't see or sense anyone on the road as we continued walking along. Honestly it was utterly boring as I started counting the puddles we passed. I think I had reached somewhere around 384 when I felt Kisame's large hand close over mine and pull me slightly closer to his side.

'Be on the watch for Anbu' he muttered as I nodded and he didn't let go of my hand and I couldn't help but smile to myself. I zoned out for a while as the road wound its way North west and we soon came to a small town where children ran about wrapped in scarves and such as their parents carried firewood or shopping bags home from the stores.

A few of the kids stopped to watch us pass as one of them even ran up to me. He was dirty and dressed in rags as his round little face stared up at me. I could tell he was afraid as the others were yelling dares at him from the safety of the village. It made me feel sad looking at the boy as I was reminded of all of the children I had seen die on the battle field. Boys and girls killed before their 13th birthdays. I stopped for a second as Kisame and Itachi stopped as well to look at me. A gasp rose from the boys as I looked at them and reached into my pocket. I pulled out a small shuriken and looked at the boy. Seeing the weapons the others fled as I looked down at the grimy boy. He looked utterly terrified realising now that I was a ninja as I crouched to his level.

I thought he was going to pee himself as I reached out and put the shuriken in his hand.

'Never go up to strangers on a road. Next time you might not me lucky enough to run into a medic as kind as I' I said and stood as Kisame looked miffed and Itachi downright pissed as we left the town behind. I knew that I had just put myself down another peg in their eyes as we continued walking. Kisame didn't bother to catch my hand again as I watched the types of trees change and the temperature rise slightly. It was now damp and slightly warmer as I loosened my scarf and I noticed Kisame undid his cloak slightly.

The damp became thick banks of fog as I felt my cloak sticking to me awkwardly as we continued walking.

'Are we going to camp overnight?' Kisame asked as I didn't heard anything from Itachi but assuming from Kisame's glance at me we weren't as I noticed that the sun was getting low in the horizon. Camping in this weather would be iffy at best as I noticed clouds start to close in. Great, Rain. Winter in Fire country was just about all rain.

I knew Itachi knew where he was going as we soon came to very beaten looking motel at the side of the road. I noticed that the traffic had increased as we had passed a couple of people with carts and on bikes or walking with packs. Most of them didn't notice us as we ducked into the lobby of the motel. It was dark as I stood off to the side with Kisame as Itachi managed to secure a room for us and then disappeared down a hall to the right of the main desk. The desk clerk eyed me as I glared at him from under the lip of my hat. I knew what he was thinking as he gave me a smutty look before I rounded the corner and out of his sight. Disgusting.

Itachi was standing outside of a door as he opened it and disappeared inside. I followed as Kisame brought up the rear and closed the door behind us. It was dim inside but dry and it fit the bill with a couch, a bathroom, and two single beds. I assumed I was getting the couch as Kisame stripped his cloak off and tossed it over the back of a chair by the heater. I followed suit as Itachi turned it on.

The lack of conversation was slightly frightening as I claimed getting a shower first. Neither of the men said anything as I hid in the bathroom. I could hear the murmur of their voices after I turned on the shower. It wasn't the most clean bathroom I had ever been in but it was passable as I jumped in and washed my hair. Really hot showers were the way to go after travelling all day as I wanted to stay in there longer but knew that Itachi probably wanted a shower too as I turned off the taps and hopped out.

They were still talking as I could hear Kisame's rolling baritone and Itachi's higher tenor as they were discussing something by the serious tone in their voices as I put my clothes back on and stepped out of the bathroom with my hair wrapped in a towel. The TV was on as Itachi sat watching it and Kisame was reading over a scroll at the little desk that was shoved in a corner.

'Where are we headed?' I asked as Kisame looked up at me.

'We're headed back to Konoha. We have an item we need to retrieve' Itachi said as Kisame glanced at his partner for a second. They were hiding something from me as Kisame turned back and nodded at me.

I personally was tired as I crawled into one of the beds. I knew the men would be up for a while longer as Itachi flicked to the news and I saw an advert about two mist ninja being dead as I heard a deep sigh from Kisame before I drifted into dreamland.


	18. Old Friends are Never Welcome

'ACHOO!' I sneezed as we passed a rather large village in the early morning greyness. Itachi had woken us at the first hint of light and we had checked out and stared walking. It was cold as I pulled my cloak closer to my body.

'Bless you' Kisame mumbled as I mumbled a 'thanks' and sniffed. I really couldn't be getting sick as I saw sentries from the village gate watching us as we passed. I could tell we were getting closer and closer to ninja country just by how paranoid everyone looked at the travellers marching along on the road. I kept an eye on a young man with a cross bow fixed on my right shoulder as we passed. Itachi and Kisame didn't say anything as we just continued along.

I was glad for my knives, they seemed to generate a little heat and kept me slightly warmer that I would normally be as I skirted a rather large puddle. It hadn't been raining but it was still that icky humid that promised rain indefinitely as Kisame simply walked through it.

Honestly, missions seemed so pointless as I plodded along. I didn't know how Itachi kept up with Kisame honestly I had to take two or three steps for each of Kisame's strides. I knew we were heading in the general direction of Konoha as a scroll randomly popped under my nose as I took it.

'Leader instructed Sasori to do an inventory of medical items that are needed in the hideout. You are to pick up the listed items when we get to Konoha. You will also be wearing a genjutsu while you are there' Itachi instructed. I nodded and cracked open the scroll. Most of it was antidotes to complex poisons and basic medical supplies like bandages and stuff. Nothing on the list was going to be super hard to get especially if I asked the right questions.

We lapsed into silence again as I tried to keep myself warm in the crisp morning air. Honestly how Itachi and Kisame were friends I didn't know. They never seemed to talk at all yet both were completely comfortable with one another. It was perplexing to say the least as we plodded on.

Most of the road traffic avoided us like we were diseased and others stared. It was an odd feeling as tension seemed to grow the closer we came to Konoha.

'Kasumi, we will enter from the west side. I'm going to teach you that basic genjutsu so you may go through the gate' Kisame explained. We had stopped off at a little roadside café for drinks and food as Itachi sat munching on a dango stick. I had polished off mine because I loved sweets so much and Kisame began going over the basics of this genjutsu.

The entire idea behind it was to anchor chakra to my normal features and augment them slightly with an illusion. I chose to be extremely boring as I turned my hair mousy brown with tanned skin and even Kisame taught me how to cover my scar. I was impressed needless to say when Kisame showed me how boring I looked in a pane of water he created. I could've passed as Iruka's sister or close to it as I gave myself a smattering of freckles.

'Plain is good' Itachi mumbled as Kisame stared at me rather disgruntled. Honestly, those two were weird. Itachi finished off his dango and we started walking again. My cloak was now spattered with mud as were my boots as Kisame kept glancing at me every now and again while we walked through the dense trees. We had left the road to travel to the far side of the wall for convenience.

'What's wrong Kisame?' I asked flatly as he scowled and tipped my hat back a little. He stared at my face for a minute and shrugged letting the hat fall back down.

'You look better with white hair and your scar' he mumbled his cheeks tinting a light purple as Itachi called us to a halt. A massive brick and mortar wall rose above us as we quickly used a teleportation jutsu to the top of the wall. I was still getting used to the ear popping sensation it always created as I looked over my old home.

'Must feel weird being back here in your old home Itachi, nostalgic even?' Kisame commented as I glanced at the Uchiha. His face was stoic as he gazed over what once was a home to him and I.

'I feel nothing for this place. What a pity, once a prosperous village. No. I don't feel nostalgic at all' He said as Kisame scoffed. I didn't say anything as I watched a few people milling about by the wall.

'We'll split from here. Meet us at the reservoir in about an hour.' Kisame glanced at me as I nodded and we used the transportation jutsu. I landed in an all too familiar courtyard as I looked around. It had belonged to the Hatake family in years past but I could tell it hadn't been looked after in decades by the long grass.

Silently I leapt over the gate into the deserted street and carried on my merry way. Many of the people in Konoha kept to themselves it seemed as I stashed my cloak into a bag I had brought with me to carry basic medical supplies and put on my chakra absorbing one as I headed into the main market area. I had brought my Konoha headband and wore it around my neck even with the slash in it people waved to me from doorsteps.

How naieve they all were.

I looked at the scroll. First thing was first belladonna antidote along with a few more plants that were easily accessible in the surrounding area. The one place I knew was the best for these in Konoha was a little shop that sold strictly to ninjas only. Good thing I had a bucket of fake Id's and such as I walked over to the shop.

It had always been a very sterile environment in the shop as I found I could stock up on just about every single antidote we needed. It was quite simple too with no money required. People in Konoha really were too trusting. I slipped into the store as a few patrons were wandering about. The clerk went into the back room as I waited pretending to look at some sets of gaze that I would be taking as the girls paid for their items and left.

I slunk over to the door and locked it turning the sign to closed as the clerk came over to me. He was a small pudgy man wearing an apron as I smiled at him.

'Can I help you miss?' he asked as I turned and immediately pushed the pressure points on his neck causing him to pass out. Quite a nice trick I picked up from Kabuto as I quickly filled the bag with everything that was needed and some extras just in case as I cleaned out the store on everything they had.

It was so simple as I set the clerk so that he was resting behind the counter before slipping out the back door my backpack now almost bulging from all of the supplied I had managed to snatch.

I still had about thirty ryou that Kakuzu had given me for supplies. That didn't even begin to cover the beginning of the cost of all of the loot I had just grabbed. So, Kakuzu probably wouldn't notice if some of his money went missing right?

I had been addicted to sweets since I was small. Probably explained the weight I always had been as I walked along the dusty streets of Konoha. I had left my headband on as a few people waved or smiled to me. They didn't seem to notice the Akatsuki cloak as I walked along with my hat pulled low over my eyes.

I knew the sweets shop was the next block up as I turned the corner on a little tea house. The person I saw made me freeze as I quickly backtracked. Kakashi had been leaning against the frame and talking to two other people as I headed around the far side of the building. I did not want to go anywhere near Kakashi in fear that he might recognise something as someone bumped into me.

I looked down to see Itachi's brother as he gave me a dirty look before mumbling an apology and continuing on his way. I hastened my pace to the candy shop.

I had about thirty minutes before I had to be over to the reservoir as I entered the Candy shop. The smell of chocolate and sugar was nearly overwhelming as I walked around gathering up various types of confectionary, gummy bears, chocolates and marzipan. I managed to grab a little more than I should as I paid for the majority of it and left the store.

I knew most of this would be pilfered from me by Itachi. He had a sweet tooth from the foods he consumed as I popped a few gummy bears in my mouth. I was running on time as I headed over to where the reservoir was. Konoha hadn't changed at all as a group of genin were throwing kunai at one another as a challenge as I passed a man in horrendous green spandex and orange leg warmers. I had to admit, that took confidence to wear as I popped a few more bears into my mouth.

I was glad that I had avoided Kakashi and Itachi's brother hadn't recognised me as I turned up the little path that ran between training ground 6 and the reservoir. It was pleasant as I whistled to myself, my pack now far heavier than I had expected it would be.

A loud sucking noise made me look up suddenly. I knew that noise as I grabbed onto the nearest tree just in time for a jet of water to take out two of the trees I had just been standing beside. It seemed that Kisame and Itachi had found themselves in trouble as I hastened in the direction that the jet of water had come.

'DON'T LOOK INTO HIS EYES! Whatever you do, keep your eyes closed!' I heard a familiar shout as I peeked out onto the reservoir from the tree line.

Kisame and Itachi stood on the water back to back as Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma stood on the water's surface. Itachi looked highly amused and Kisame looked rather bored as he stood with Samehada still sheathed on his back.

I wasn't about to get in on this fight as it looked like Kakashi and Itachi were having a good old fashioned staring contest. There was a brief moment before Kakashi collapsed and Kurenai ran forward hauling him out of the water.

I stood waiting just beyond their line of vision as it seemed like they were talking. Kakashi seemed barely conscious and the other two looked shocked as Itachi seemed merely amused and Kisame looked feral but bored as he fidgeted with the leather on the hilt of his sword.

It looked like it came to a point as Kisame grinned and ran at Kakashi. There was a moment before something green and orange popped out of the water slamming Kisame backward as they both skidded across the water on their feet. This was not good, three on two. But then again it was Itachi and Kisame. I wasn't really worried.

They were talking again as the man in green spandex lifted Kakashi's limp body. Kisame and Itachi didn't seem impressed but Itachi did seem wary of the new ninja. I noticed how irritated Kisame looked as Kakashi's body was passed to Kurenai.

I guess it was time to leave as Itachi looked exactly at where I was hiding and gave a nod. I assumed we were meeting back on the wall as they both vanished with a transportation jutsu and I followed.

I landed just in time to drop backward to avoid Kisame's fist as it made contact with the tree behind my head. Shit if I had been a second later I would've become part of the tree or gone through it like on our first meeting.

'Shit Kasumi!' He cursed as I stood and set my over stuffed pack on the ground.

'So it seems you two ran into some problems' I stated as Itachi gave me a silencing glare as Kisame turned on his partner.

'Still Itachi it would've taken but five minutes to silence those idiots forever' He said as I noticed he had that bloodlust running through him. Better to back away slowly as Itachi simply rolled his shoulders and pulled his cloak closer to his body.

'I suggest we find Naruto and track him. He shouldn't be terribly hard to find' Itachi muttered as Kisame lifted my overstuffed pack.

'Kakashi said he was with Jiraiya correct?' Kisame muttered. I drew in the dirt with my shoe as Kisame and Itachi discussed what we were going to do now. Really I tuned them out as I looked at the massive stone wall.

It was strange being so close to Konoha and knowing that there were hundreds of ninja just on the other side that wanted to cleave our heads from our shoulders.

'Hey woman' Itachi called as I stepped over to where the other two were and put my hat back on. We started walking again as I noticed we were headed away from Konoha to a smaller town about a days walk from Konoha as we started running. At Itachi's pace it took us about two hours and nothing was said. Really, even though Kisame and I knew how much we meant to the other. You would've thought we had a fight by how we were interacting that much less than before. The more I thought about it the more logic kicked in. we were on a mission, emotions really were useless and showing we had connections to one another could and would be used as an effective weapon against us.

The town was tiny, only 1000 people or so as suddenly Itachi turned on me sharingan's blazing as my world seemed to be inverted. I blinked as shook my head looking around. This was weird, where was I?

'Do as I say Kasumi or I kill Kisame' Itachi's voice echoed in my ears as I turned to see Kisame being crucified and Itachi standing with a katana below him. I knew it wasn't beyond Itachi to hurt Kisame as I nodded.

Suddenly I was back but it didn't feel right. There was something wrong as my body was reacting without my command. I was somehow standing outside of the little hotel as I turned to see Naruto with Jiraiya. It looked like they had been walking for a while as my body turned and I gave a polite wave. It seemed that I had caught Jiraiya's attention as he hurried Naruto into the hotel before he came over to me.

'hey gorgeous. Did you fall from the heavens because you are just an angel' he grinned as I gave a polite giggle. God, Itachi must have put me in a genjutsu as my rational brain wasn't connecting at all. I was leading Jiraiya away from the hotel. I assumed that was what Itachi wanted as we came to a little lake. It was pretty far out of town as Jiraiya followed me willingly.

'So, where are you coming from. You know its pretty dangerous to be wandering these days without some kind of body guard.' Jiraiya was laying it on thick as I giggled.

'Oh, I'm just passing through. I'm on my way to rain country to see my sister. She was just recently married and is expecting her first child. I could use a nice strong man to help me' I giggled again. Jeeze what had Itachi done to me as I tried to focus. I guess it showed as something flickered for a moment in Jiraiya's face as his smile returned.

'well then I guess I could show you just how strong of a guard I could be' I grinned and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I giggled as I felt him press one of the pressure points on my neck. DAMMIT. I suddenly felt nauseated before my body slumped and I felt my consciousness fade.

!!!!!!!!!!!

Naruto had been easy to find. And even easier to get out of the room as Kisame watched with mild interest as Naruto looked like he was going to have kittens in sheer fear. It was highly amusing actually as Itachi reached out to grab Naruto.

'DAMMIT NARUTO!' A voice screamed as Kisame turned to see none other than the mini Uchiha standing at the far end of the hall panting. He had obviously been running as Itachi showed little interest in his sibling. Kisame knew that Itachi harboured very little feelings for the Uchiha clan.

'Itachi!' Sasuke shouted as Kisame showed mild amusement at the fact that Itachi had lied and told him his clan had been wiped out. Seemed Itachi wasn't as heartless as Kisame had known him to be.

Itachi turned to stare at his brother as Kisame didn't move. Itachi was as emotionless as ever but it looked like Sasuke was about to have a breakdown as little sparks started to flicker in his hand. Kisame prepared for the attack as Itachi easily moved out of the way to stand behind Sasuke.

Itachi knew that Sasuke was definitely not a match for him as Kisame kept an eye on the kyuubi container. He seemed to be rattled as his chakra flared monstrously, Kisame knew that if the Kyuubi's power was unleashed it would cause problems as he swung his sword forward and felt the familiar rush of chakra pooling into Samehada as Naruto looked shocked.

'wh-whats going on?' he looked up at Kisame as the shark nin grinned.

'My sword eats chakra. So what do you want missing first, an arm or a leg. You're pretty useless without that chakra' Kisame grinned as Naruto looked utterly terrified. Sasuke cried out as Itachi broke his arm and Kisame made a move to grab Naruto.

Suddenly a large frog appeared in the hallway.

'What the fuck?!' Kisame cursed jumping back as A white haired man appeared in a plume of smoke.

'WHEN YOU"RE AS SEXY AS ME YOU ONLY HAVE TO FLASH YOUR SEXINESS TO HAVE WOMEN FALL AT YOUR FEET!' The older man screamed as Kisame dead panned. Seriously? This was the guy that was going to try to kick their asses? It was funny as he noticed Jiraiya had Kasumi's unconscious body draped over his shoulder.

'You like beautiful women but weren't thinking such a simple method would successfully stall you. Great legendary sannin Jiraiya. In any case it seems you removed the genjutsu from the woman.' Kisame stretched as Jiraiya set Kasumi against a wall.

'you wanted to draw me away so you cast a genjutsu on this woman hunh? Not a very manly way of doing things' Jiraiya commented as he turned and stood. 'so you were to abduct Naruto' he said as Naruto jumped and looked back at Jiraiya.

Itachi gave a chuckle.

'Yes, to abduct Naruto was the command from the upper ranks of the Akatsuki. It seems you were the source of information to Kakashi' Itachi commented dryly as the large frog disappeared in a plume of smoke. Kisame was tensed for a fight, he knew Kasumi's genjutsu would hold as Jiraiya looked like he was also ready for a battle.

'You two will die by my hand right here, right now because you wont get naruto' Jiraiya stood strong as Kisame slung samehada over his shoulder.

'and why not?' Itachi called as there was a grunt and a shuffle.

'don't do it' Sasuke called weakly as everyone turned to see Sasuke stand ' This guy… is MINE' he growled as Itachi glanced at Sasuke with little interest.

'I have no interest in you right now.' He muttered as suddenly Itachi whipped out and kicked his brother into the far wall. Naruto called out as Kisame chuckled. Seemed Itachi really did have no compassion for others as Itachi glanced at Kisame irritation showing on his face.

'No, Naruto…. I told you… he's mine!' Sasuke still tried to get up. 'COME ON!' Sasuke roared as a slight smirk appeared on itachi's face as he sucker punched Sasuke into the wall.

'BASTARD!' Naruto snapped as Kisame shot him a look as the beating continued.

'heh, no mercy' he smirked glancing over at the unconscious Kasumi. Dear god he hoped she was okay as Jiraiya was still watching intently. There was a deep glugging noise as Kisame knew that sound from itachi's victims.

'Itachi I advise you against using your eyes so much in a single day' he commented as Sasuke started screaming.

'ASSHOLES!' Naruto screamed and took off toward Sasuke. Kisame took off after him as Jiraiya slapped his hands into seals and the entire corridor changed into a string of intestine. Kisame knew this wasn't good as Itachi turned to his partner.

'Kisame' He called as the duo were already running. Kisame hated leaving Kasumi behind as the fleshy walls were closing in faster and faster.

'No one escaped my intestine!' Jiraiya yelled as Itachi's eyes widened for a fraction of a second and a black flame shot forth incinerating the end of the hall and allowing the two ninja to escape into broad daylight.

!!!!!!!!!!

I woke with a jolt as I noticed that there were a group of men talking at the far end of a rather demolished corridor as I shook my head. What the hell? It felt like I had been hit with a metal pole over the head as I managed to stand.

They were all looking at a slumped figure as Naruto was ranting about something and telling the others something about a promise as I smiled. It seemed that Itachi and Kisame had failed yet again. No worries. I slunk away as I managed to compose myself enough to walk out into the late afternoon sunshine and away from the village.

My head was pounding as I ducked off the road into the cover of some trees. Damn whatever nerve Jiraiya had hit I was going to be in some pain for a while as I lay under the cover of one of the trees. Dammit I hoped Kisame would come back and get me, either that or I was heading back to the base on my own. I decided the latter was the most probable as I formed the boar, ram, dragon, and boar seals again as I felt the familiar squeeze and push of the transportation jutsu as I landed with a thud in a field on the far side of the little village I had been in.

That had worked wonderfully.

My head was throbbing as I pushed some chakra into my head to try to alleviate the pain. The throbbing died nearly immediately as I just lay there for a second. I honestly sucked as ninja how and why Kisame saw anything in me was astonishing as I hauled myself to my feet.

Bah, this was ridiculous. How the hell was I going to find the others. I knew Itachi would need to rest after how much he had used his eyes for the genjutsu that was on me. This was so stupid. I sat in the little field and watched the cows as they grazed. I really was in a small town as no one seemed to notice me sitting in the middle of a field dressed in a rather nice sun dress. I hated dresses. They were so impractical.

I stood and looked around, I really wished I was a tracking ninja. It would've made life so much easier but I had never been trained as such. So I hadn't a clue where to look. I didn't want to head back to the base in Rain either in case we were shifting to a closer location for Itachi's sake. A shiver ran down my spine. God I hated that guy. Didn't trust the bastard at all and spending a week with him forced me more than enough times to snap my mouth shut to cut off my retorts to his snarky, cynical, smooth, aristocratic comments.

But what was I going to do?

I knew if I stayed in the immediate area too long Jiraiya would find me and drag me back to Konoha. I didn't need that again thank you very much. Plus for some very odd reason, I wanted a hug. It struck me so suddenly I actually stumbled. That was such an odd feeling, wanting affection as I stood there stunned for a minute. I laughed to myself, Kisame really was changing me for the better as I scuffed my boot in the grass kicking up a pebble into my hand.

Maybe I could track their chakra flares as I felt out tentatively for any pointed flares. I could feel some from the town but nothing that was significant like Kisame's ocean of chakra. I honestly wondered how he kept all of that power under constant control and being able to be so gentle.

I laughed again. I really did need to have my head examined. Kisame Hoshigaki one of the most brutal murderers and ruthless men the shinobi nations had ever seen. Plus Mist Ninja were notorious for being completely self centred when it came to anything. Yet for some reason Kisame seemed to let me see something that was more than just him as a Mist Ninja. Either that or I had really done a number on my head when Genma brained me with the tree branch.

Kisame was an anomaly. His bloodline limit was frightening to look like a shark. I wondered if his entire family was like that or if it was just a trait from one side of his family. I knew if I asked about it I'd probably have my arm broken by him. For some reason the blue skin and gills seemed to be a very sensitive subject around him. But I could understand why. Growing up he must've had quite a hard time from other children and adults.

I sighed and pulled back my search for their chakra. Both of them were long gone. Dammit, I didn't even have decent clothes to walk in as I knew my legs were going to rub together and hurt in this damned dress. I started out for the far side of town when I came around the side of the inn noticing a charred and broken wall.

Probably was Kisame's doing as I struck out in a straight line from the damage done to the wall. No one gave me a second glance as I walked through the field and into the trees. Now I had a general direction I wondered where to go. I spread out my chakra once again searching for anything that hinted at where they had gone as something went warm against my chest. I blinked and reached into my bra pulling out one of the smaller dagger's Kisame had given me. I always kept one stashed in my cleavage just for security reasons as the blade seemed to vibrate in much the same manner that Samehada did.

Suddenly it stuck me as I looked at the tiny navy blade. Each one of the knives had been made from Samehada's scales. The realization made me feel warm as I looked at the little knife. Kisame really did care about me a great deal if he sought out to make personalized weapons from his beloved sword.

The little blade hummed again as I gently set it on the ground and pushed a little web of chakra around it. Immediately the blade spun as if it were a compass arrow before sticking to a diagonal to my right. I turned in the direction and snatched up my blade replacing it and walking the way it pointed.

Kisame really had thought of a great many things as I noticed something fluttering stuck to a tree. I jumped back quickly and smashed down my chakra as I noticed the exploding tag. Obviously someone had been through here and definitely didn't want others following. I skirted the tag and kept on my original path eyes on the ready.

After 5 more tags I recalled what little I knew about chakra tags. They were easily created and could be used for a wide variety of things from sealing to explosions as well as chakra absorbers and could even be used to create genjutsu. I guessed all that damned reading in the library had paid off as I set down the dagger again and found I needed to go straight ahead as I suddenly came to a massive set of old oak trees. They looked incredibly old as I noticed little seals carved into the bark near the base. I knew better than to try to touch them or make them out, knowing my luck it was some type of crazy jutsu that would kill me in an instant.

I set the dagger down again as I waited. It just continued to spin and spin stopping in one direction for a second or two before moving again.

I sighed. This had been a good strategy as I settled myself against a birch tree that faced the old oaks. I didn't like the way this was going as I hunkered down to wait. I hated waiting. I sat there staring at the old thick trees as the odd feeling of wanting a hug once again assaulted me.

I had never been a very emotional or affectionate person and my social skills were…. Underdeveloped needless to say, plus my need to be an individual probably didn't help when it came to interacting with people.

Bah. Thinking. It was going to become my undoing as I sat there and waited.

The hours ticked by as I tried a few more times with my dagger always yielding the same result as the sun went down and night fell over the forest. I still waited as soon I drifted into a light doze still waiting.

A twig snapped in the cool silence of the night as I was immediately awake and on red alert. My head snapped in the direction of the noise as I rose silently to my feet and armed myself with my two hidden daggers.

Silently a man with a ghostly appearance and glasses slipped between the trees as by breath hitched in my throat and my stomach seemed to fill with lead.

Kabuto.

He hadn't noticed me yet as I willed myself to move. My legs seemed to be frozen as I watched him skulk between the trees toward the large oaks. One of my ghosts had seemed to come back to haunt me it seemed as I wanted to flee but my body wasn't listening.

He crept around the oaks as I suddenly wondered where Orochimaru was. The pair were never far from one another as I took a step back. My fatal error. As soon as I stepped back I heard a crinkle of paper as I realized I had stepped on an exploding tag.

I stepped off of the tag and shot away as the explosion shattered the calm of the night. I knew that Kabuto now knew he had company as I cursed to terrible luck. I ducked behind a large tree branch as kabuto jumped into the charred clearing. I hoped that had alerted Kisame and Itachi to my plight as my heart was hammering in my chest. I had never been this afraid when facing any kind of opponent as I had to swallow the bitter taste that was entering my mouth.

I watched as he looked around and his eyes landed directly on my hiding place. I held my breath as he stalked over, it seemed that my flight tactic wasn't going to work as I watched him come closer. I gripped the handles of my daggers as he reached to pull back the branch. I leapt bringing my daggers across in a slash as I heard a grunt of surprise from Kabuto as I easily slashed through his forearms that he had thrown up to shield himself. I jumped over him and landed firmly taking on a defensive stance as he whirled to face me a sadistic grin on his face. I waited as his grin widened and he started laughing. The sound made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as he stopped and pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

'Well, well. I didn't think you were still alive Kasumi. How good to see you again, you see this makes my mission much easier for I assume you still have Lord Orochimaru's ring that you stole all those years ago.' He said as I glared at him. His voice was like oiled glass, not as dangerous as itachi's but I knew that he meant business and was not to be taken lightly.

'It's good to see you too Kabuto. You know, as a matter of fact I don't have the ring. I was attacked by the Akatsuki not long ago and the ring was stolen from me.' I was lying through my teeth but I was taking a page from Deidara as I heard kabuto chuckle.

'Hm… nice try but I can see it on your little finger there. Now, why don't we end this nicely and you give me the ring and I wont have to kill you for it. You know how hard it is to clean blood stains out of white hair don't you kasumi?' He was toying with me as his smirk grinned. I flinched at the memory of how stained my hair had always been while working in the military, the roan colour never seemed to want to wash out as I glared at him.

'I'm not letting you have my ring Kabuto' I spat as he shrugged completely unfazed.

'Fine by me. Although killing you would be such a tragedy, such a pretty little thing and so useful, none the matter though.' He grinned as he ran at me. I blocked his first attack and landed a kick to his stomach as I noticed a slight green glow to his left hand as I twisted away and his hand made contact with a nearby tree. Immediately the area that he touched seemed to die as I felt myself pale. His technique could kill cells as I ducked and dodged another vicious punch and a kick. Quickly I tried to pull together something that could over power Kabuto. I had to hit him without getting anywhere near his hands.

I jumped back from another punch as I brought my hand around and sliced through his shoulder with sickening ease as I felt the crunch of bone before I used his chest as a spring board and jumped back. I felt something snag my hair as Kabuto pulled and I was slammed into the earth with a sickening crunch as I felt a few bones in my wrist break. I bit back a scream as I pushed chakra into my hands and lashed out only to be met with a kunai being embedded into my shoulder.

'Now now Kasumi. If you struggle you'll bleed out faster and where would be the fun in that?' he murmured his breath hot against my cheek as I growled and he twisted his hand tighter into my hair. Dammit, this was bad as I felt him pull out another kunai. I needed to move and fast as he shifted his weight. I had the opening I needed as I grabbed his shirt and threw myself forward as Kabuto growled. He landed with a thump as he released my hair and I sprang away. The kunai was embedded pretty deeply in my shoulder as I left it there and faced Kabuto again.

He was already on his feet as he faced me again.

'Insolent brat!' he spat as he came at me again. I blocked a few blows as my wrist ached from the pressure as I pushed more of my chakra into my hand and hit him square in the chest. He faltered for a minute as I felt my chakra hit his heart. His eyes widened for a minute as he blinked then crumpled to the ground. I jumped away as a low hiss seemed to echo through the trees.

I moved away from Kabuto hoping to hell that he was dead as my heart continued to hammer in my chest. I had never been this frightened, even when Orochimaru had tried to steal my body as I waited listening.

'It seems that you have grown little girl' the low hiss seemed to come from multiple directions as Orochimaru stepped out of the trees. 'Funny how the Akatsuki would have someone like you keeping watch. Maybe you're just… disposable? To them.' His serpentine face curled into a wicked smirk as he took a step closer to Kabuto's crumpled body. I didn't say anything as I hoped against hell that the sounds of fighting had alerted Kisame. Dear god, I needed back up I didn't want to die!

I stopped.

I didn't want to die.

The thought confused me immensely as orochimaru smirked once again and stepped over Kabuto.

'seeing as Kabuto was incompetent at getting my ring back it looks like it is once again up to I' he said as I felt like a rabbit about to bolt. There was no way I could outrun Orochimaru, I wasn't powerful or skilled enough to defeat someone of his level. He continued to come closer as he stopped about four feet from me and watched. 'well, I'd hate to see that pretty little head roll from that….delicious body' His eyes roved over me as I felt the urge to shudder but kept my emotions contained as he seemed amused by me. 'but if you aren't will to cooperate…. Then I guess I'll just have to finish this!' I jumped as snakes shot out of his sleeve toward me. I slicked through two of them as three latched onto my arm and bit down. I cursed as I quickly cut them in half as Orochimaru moved to attack me. I gasped as my back hit a tree and his cold hands were wrapped around my throat.

'Give me the ring' he hissed as I gasped. I couldn't get any oxygen and I felt my lungs constricting painfully. On reflex I grabbed his hands around my throat as I felt him lean on me pushing what little oxygen I had out of my lungs.

'n-no!' I croaked as I kicked him hard in the groin and the other foot into his solar plexus. There was a whoosh of air as I was dropped and he crumpled to the ground in pain. I scrambled out of the way tripping over Kabuto's body as I felt several objects hit my back. The pain was excruciating as I managed to get to my feet. The tang of copper was in my mouth as I spit out the blood and noticed that orochimaru was downright pissed.

Oh shit.

I backed up as in an instant he had me pinned against the ground as his hands had encircled my neck. I tried to fight as I tried to build up my chakra as my vision was dancing before my eyes.

'ki-ki- kisa-me!' I gasped as I felt the last of my oxygen leave my lungs and an ache began spreading as my blood rushed in my ears. I sent a surge of chakra up his arms as I dull registered a scream as there was a rush of air and a sickening crunch as something heavy and blunt had obviously knocked Orochimaru off of me. I lay there as I turned my head to see Orochimaru looking pissed as he grabbed the scruff of Kabuto's shirt collar before he disappeared in a ball of fire.

I lay there gasping in cold air as I winced feeling the shuriken digging into my back and how raw my throat was. I felt someone kneel beside me as I tried to turn to look at them. In the gloom I could make out two gold orbs as I smiled slightly. It was Kisame. I heard a huff as I assumed Itachi was also there as Kisame gently lifted me. I could feel his chest rumbling as he talked but nothing seemed to make sense as I simply lay there gently healing the trauma done to my neck and wrist.

I could feel we were moving as I didn't really pay attention as I felt Kisame gently rocking me as we walked. I really had never noticed how big Kisame was. I felt like a child when he carried me as soon I was set on a soft bed. So I had been correct in assuming that I had been close the where the hideout had been. My world slowly came into sharper focus as I heard Kisame and Itachi talking behind me.

I grunted and sat up as the pain from the shuriken in my back made me gasp and crumple back onto the bed.

'kasumi!' Kisame's voice was laced with worry as I heard the soft swish of a cloak and the bed sink.

'she has shuriken embedded in her back.' Itachi noted as I nodded.

'I need them removed before they get infected' I gasped as I heard Kisame's heavy footsteps. 'I've also been bitten by snakes, I don't think they were poisonous and there's a kunai in my shoulder' I noted as there was a swift tug and a sharp sting as Itachi pulled the Kunai out cleanly.

The next hour was dreadfully painful as Itachi and Kisame pulled the shuriken out of my back and put salve on it before wrapping my snugly in bandages. I was rather opposed to removing my clothing with both of them there as Itachi forcefully removed my dress and bra before bandaging me.

It must've been quite a sight to poor Kisame as I fought Itachi and the stoic man simply held me in a genjutsu while he finished bandaging me. Asshole. The genjutsu hadn't done much other than froze my entire body. Soon enough I was deemed alright as Itachi left to 'rest' as he put it and simply slipped out of the room.

I sighed and lay on my side as Kisame was sitting on a little wooden desk chair that looked like it would break under his bulk as he stood and came to sit on the edge of the bed beside me. He reached out and rested one of his large hands on my head as I gave a smirk of a smile that he returned.

'you held your own out there well. Defeated Kabuto and I've never seen orochimaru so livid.' He complimented me as I felt suddenly warm and tingly all over. Again I was brought back to that same odd pang of feeling that I wanted a hug. Honestly I didn't understand it as I forced myself to sit up. Kisame frowned and gently lifted me under my armpits until I was sitting in his lap. I blinked, well this was unusual as I wrapped my arms around him and let my head rest against his chest as I felt him lean his chin on the top of my head.

Kisame was so warm I didn't want to move as the memory of my odd fear of dying earlier seemed to float through my mind. It seemed the tables had changed on me, I was wanted here in that Akatsuki. Even if grudgingly by Itachi and Hidan and indifferently by Kakuzu and Konan I knew that I was useful to them. Kisame proved to me this on more than one occasion and in moments like this where little bits of affection would show through. I knew I had a deep running caring for Kisame. The shark man had grown on me immensely in the last year he had really changed me as I felt him slide his hand gently through my hair. My scalp still hurt from where Kabuto had pulled but Kisame's touch was gentle and soothing. You would've never expected a man so large and frightening looking to be as gentle as he could be sometimes. Honestly I wondered sometimes where his horrid bloodlust and self centered fighting came from because it didn't seem like the Kisame who I sat with now. Either way, who was I to judge. I was pretty psychotic in my own right, hostile and witty one minute then second guessing myself like to tomorrow the next. Plus if anything being with the Akatsuki had taught me was to see in shades of grey not sheer good and back, black and white.

'are you tired?' Kisame's voice was low as I shook my head but my body betrayed me by letting out a yawn. Dammit, foiled again as I heard his usual rumbling laugh. 'sure you aren't.' he mocked as I growled and punched his arm half heartedly. This just seemed to amuse him more as he ruffled my hair before standing. I lay back down as he crossed the little wooden room and pulled out some clothes.

I rolled over mindful of my back as I heard the rustle of clothing as he changed. I had the distinct impression that this base was significantly smaller than the others I had been in as I heard the bed springs groan as he lay down. Honestly I was getting beaten up so much lately as Kisame rolled over and draped an arm over my side and flung one of his legs over mine as his warm body seemed to encompass me. It was wonderfully warm as I sighed and relaxed knowing Kisame probably wasn't tired at all as I slowly drifted into dreamland as I heard him humming something just under his breath before I drifted to sleep.


	19. Uchiha Conflicts

I woke the next morning felling a draft breeze over me as I shivered and groped around for my blanket. I couldn't find it as I cracked open an eye to realised that it had been kicked to the far end of the bed as I grabbed it and rolled. I collided with something solid and warm as the colour of light blue obscured my vision. It took me a minute to jumpstart my brain as I realised it was Kisame's chest and that he was wide awake and reading a book while I had slept on.

'Morning sleepy' he greeted as I grunted and rolled over as I heard his usual rumbling laugh as I felt warm arms encircle me and lift me from the mattress. I groped for my pillow not wanting to leave the warmth of the bed as Kisame set me against his chest. I held onto the pillow as he laughed again plucking the object from my grip as if I were nothing more than a child. 'I take it you don't want to get up' he murmured as I felt his warm breath on my cheek.

'no, I want to sleep for a week' I grumbled attempting to get closer to him for warmth. Why was the air in this room so bloody cold? He laughed again as I felt him running his hand through my tangled hair and gently detangling it as he reclined against the headboard again.

'You need to do some training today' Kisame mentioned as I sighed through my nose. Training. Right I was a kunoichi wasn't I? Heavens forbid I should be a fat kunoichi.

'Right' I muttered remembering how far I had come in training with the Akatsuki. At least I wouldn't be exploding buildings randomly with my hydrogen jutsu after Deidara had helped me with some of the physics behind 'the art of explosions' as he so called it.

We stayed like that for a bit, me dozing on Kisame while he ran a hand through my hair as I noticed I couldn't hear birds or the wind in the trees or anything. It was eerie as I looked around the room.

We were in an underground base obviously as I sat up and stretched. Everything seemed to be carved from the earth as Kisame climbed off of the bed and stretched. I watched his muscles flex as he walked to the bathroom. For a big guy Kisame moved very fluidly almost cat like as I saw a ghost of a smirk cross his face before he closed the door behind him.

I really wanted a shower as I rolled off of the bed and decided to find clothing. The bandages had done their job as I healed the scabs along my back as I knew I'd have to take any training easy otherwise the new skin could easily tear. I pulled off my pants and kicked them into a heap of what looked like Kisame's clothing before rooting in my bag for clean underwear.

I managed to find a pair as I came up short on clean clothing. Seemed I had to once again do laundry. I grabbed one of Kisame's shirts and tugged on a pair of boxers before wadding up my dirty clothing and striking out to find the laundry room.

Now me being the ingenious person I was I realised that firstly I had no idea the layout of this base. Secondly I had no idea if it even had a laundry room and thirdly if Itachi saw me I'd never live down the shame. I plodded along the roughly hewn halls that looked like they had been carved out by massive paws through the solid granite as my bare feet barely made any sound.

The warren twisted and turned as I checked the various doors always finding empty rooms that looked like they hadn't been used in quite some time as I took a right and found a little nondescript brown door. I opened it to find the laundry room as I thanked whatever deity was smiling on me as I realised the little room was not vacant as I had assume it to be.

Itachi glanced at me sharingan spinning as I jumped back. He was so quiet I hadn't noticed him at first glance as He finished folding an item of black cloth into an immaculate pile.

'I see you lived' he commented as I nodded my mouth dry. Shit, I was alone with Itachi and I had no idea how far away Kisame was. No matter what I was still terrified of the Akatsuki. Itachi the greatest because I just couldn't read him at all. I stepped into the room and dumped my clothing into the bucket of scalding water and soap. Itachi didn't say anything more as I scrubbed my clothing and he simply continued to fold dry clothing into various piles.

'Kasumi' Itachi addressed me as my head snapped up. Itachi looked quite annoyed and somewhat vexed as his glare froze me in an instant. 'know that what is established between you and Kisame I do not approve of. Akatsuki comes before relationships. Ninja have no use for such connections' Itachi seemed to spit the last word as I was torn between running from the room and slapping him for being such an asshole.

My irritation must have shown on my face as his glare intensified. I knew Itachi wasn't fond of me and had to grudgingly accept me in the Akatsuki but now he was going out of his way to show it. He turned to leave as I turned to face him fully.

'You venomous snake' I spat as he simply raised an elegant eyebrow at my obvious display of anger. 'What goes on between Kisame and I is our business and none of your concern, let alone the Akatsuki's. I don't care if you approve or not _Itachi. _Sometimes connections are better to have to fight more effectively as ninja' I spat at him as his expression changed to amusement as he looked at me with a little smirk on his face.

'Very defensive of him aren't you. Kisame would not do the same for you. He is a mist ninja. They only live for themselves Kasumi. Think about what you say before you assume you know things.' He voice never changed from its icy silky smooth tenor as his sharingan spun wildly as I noticed it was changing slightly. I looked at his mouth as his smirk widened. 'I think it would be… prudent for you to learn your place here Kasumi. You are the medic. You are the lowest rank in the Akatsuki, and should act accordingly.' Itachi's voice was like a whip as I reacted before I could think.

I knew Itachi had been goading me. I knew since I had stepped foot in this organization that he was waiting for an excuse to kill me as I filled my hand with mist and twisted as before I could explode the hydrogen Itachi hand me pinned on the ground with a kunai to my throat.

'Temper Kasumi. You are weak because of that, it may fuel your ambition but in a fight it will cause your demise' he whispered as I wanted to punch him so badly. I grunted in pain as his knee dug into my back and into the just healed wounds.

'why do you hate me so much?' I grunted as I heard a sniff of a laugh from Itachi as I felt the kunai draw blood from my neck.

'I simply find you very irritating.' He said as I heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. In an instant Itachi was off of me and I was hauled back to my feet before my back was slammed against the stone wall. I gasped as Itachi's hot breath was on my ear. 'mention this to Kisame and you wont live to see sunset' he threatened and strode from the room carrying his laundry.

I rested against the rough wall as I listened to their conversation.

'Itachi have you seen Kasumi? We were going to train out in the west wing' Kisame sounded a little annoyed as I couldn't hear Itachi's reply. 'laundry room? Itachi…why is there blood on your hand?' Kisame's voice now had an edge to it as I assumed Itachi made up a simple excuse. There was something that sounded like a scuffle followed by a loud thump. 'Dammit Itachi what did you do to her?!' Kisame's voice growled as I flinched. This was bloodlust Kisame, I feared that side of him as I didn't hear anything before there was a groan and a thump.

Silence ensued as I leant against the wall for support. What had happened? What had I caused between the two partners? I crept out to see Kisame lying in a heap in the middle of the stone passageway and no Itachi. Panic flooded my chest as I dropped beside Kisame and checked his vitals. But soon enough he started to stir as he grabbed his head and groaned.

'fucking god damn sharingan.' He groaned before looking up and seeing me. He seemed a little stunned but other than that okay as he managed to get to his knees. I gave him a smile as he gently pulled me to him and hugged me. The panic I felt drained out of me as I just lay there against him. There was a dull ache in my back from where I assumed Itachi had dug his knee in as Kisame let me go and we both stood. I turned and went back to my laundry as Kisame over turned an empty wooden wash bin and sat on it. It groaned under his weight as he watched me scrub the crap out of my blood stained clothes. I was glad the Akatsuki had given me dark colours otherwise I would've been scrubbing for hours.

We didn't say anything and I didn't press it. Kisame had never seemed like the chatty type, if I wanted to chat about random stuff I went to Deidara because he never seemed to shut up. How Sasori put up with him I'd never know as suddenly I felt a warm hand on my neck. I jumped and spun around to punch the offended with enough power to crush most bones as Kisame simply caught my hand as if I were no more than a child. I looked up as his eyes were trained on the thin line on the side of my neck as he didn't release my hand.

'Kisame?' I asked as his seemed to snap out of whatever he was thinking about and turned to me. He gave his usually smirk grin and ruffled my hair a bit.

'it seems that you find trouble everywhere Kasumi' he chuckled as I rolled my eyes. And here I thought he was going to be super serious with me, guess not. I snorted and dumped my clothing into the rinse bucket as I scrubbed them there too before wringing them out and hanging them on lines that crossed one side of the room.

'hey what's this?' Kisame sounded highly amused as I nearly died as he held the red thong that Deidara had given me as some type of sick joke. I snatched it from Kisame and hung it up.

'Underwear' I said simply as he looked highly amused as he didn't say anything and I went back to hanging up my clothing before Kisame pulled out a matching bra. I glared at him and snatched the underwear from him as he burst out laughing and I wanted to shove my head in the scalding water to hide my embarrassment.

Soon enough I felt large hands encircle me as Kisame kissed my forehead still laughing. I rolled my eyes again as he kissed my cheek.

'You think at 26 you wouldn't be embarrassed by your underwear like you would if you were 16' he teased as I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him and prove his point. I simply shrugged as he kissed my cheek again. 'You're amusing kasumi you really are' he laughed as I turned around to face him and smiled.

'that's good I keep you entertained' I grinned as Kisame seemed a little suspicious as I leant up and gently kissed him. I grinned mentally as he was successfully distracted a dumped a bucket of icy water down his pants as I heard a yelp and he jumped away from me. I dropped the bucket as I heard a growl realising that this had now turned into a game of revenge.

I ducked under Kisame's arm and ran down the hall. My bare feet slapping painfully on the hard stone as my fingers caught grooves and I swung myself around the corners much faster than Kisame could. Having a smaller size was definitely an advantage as I swung around another corner as I found myself face to face with a door.

I didn't have a choice as I slammed my shoulder into it as it easily gave way swinging open as I staggered inside. I didn't have a change to see what was inside the room before I heard the door close and Kisame's dark chuckle. I backed up in the dark room hoping not to hit anything as I came into contact with a hard chest.

I yelped as I felt familiar arms wrap around me as the lights suddenly flared as I was momentarily blinded. I felt Kisame laugh as he lifted me by my armpits and suddenly I was airborne. I couldn't help but let loose a yelp as I hit water.

I was sucked under instantly as it took me a second to realise it wasn't cold as I heard a sploosh somewhere nearby as I started to swim for the surface. My head broke the water as I looked around the cavern. It seemed that I had stumbled upon a hot spring that had been built into the hideout as I felt a small current pull me away from the edge of the pool. I tried to swim against it as I realised that the water didn't feel right. It felt heavier as I was suddenly sucked under. I gasped in a lungful of air as I was pulled under into an eerie teal coloured world. I could make out some stone stalactites as something dark flashed in my peripheral vision. I turned to see nothing as I something did the same from the opposite direction as I turned to look only to see more teal water.

This was really starting to freak me out as I turned 360 in the water seeing nothing but teal water and blurry shapes. I tried to swim toward the surface as the more I swam the denser the water seemed to become until I felt like the water was actually holding me in place.

It took me a second to clue in as I was floating there. Kisame was a master of manipulating water as I tried to look around as best I could. I couldn't see anything other than vague shapes as suddenly as felt hands on my hips. My head jerked up as a familiar pale blue face came into view.

He was grinning as he pulled me against him and his lips crashed against mine. Obviously my little bucket of water trick had not amused him as I felt the water around us warm slightly. It was quite nice as Kisame pulled back and I realised that I needed oxygen. NOW.

I pointed up as I resisted the urge to suck in the water to quell the burning feeling in my lungs as Kisame seemed to get to point. He gently grabbed hold of my face and put his lips against mine as he forced my mouth open with his tongue. I was surprised as warm air flooded into my mouth as I breathed in the burning that was in my chest lessened as my eyes snapped open.

This bloodline limit was shockingly useful as he let my face go and grabbed me against his chest. Before I knew it we were at the surface of the water and I was a little dizzy from the sheer speed we had moved. I gasped in air as Kisame was laughing at me. I turned and glared up at him as he just gave me a very confident grin.

Stupid shark ninja.

'Well, now that I'm soaked can I get out?' I asked as he let me go and I suddenly remembered I had to tread water before I sunk. Kisame didn't seem any worse for wear as he just floated in the water effortlessly.

'no. I think you should have to suffer a little more' he grinned wolfishly as I raised an eyebrow.

'Suffer? I'm treading water and you almost drown me again. I think I've suffered enough' I retorted as Kisame shook his head and disappeared under the water without so much as a ripple.

Have you ever watched horror movies where there's a bad guy lurking somewhere just out of sight. You know he's there but you just cant find him? That's what was building in my chest was that anxiety as I searched the teal surface of the water. Stupid Kisame. He loved toying with me as I gave up and started to swim for the steps. Oddly the water didn't resist me as I managed to get up onto the side with my legs still dangling in the water. I love swimming, it's a great deal of fun. But swimming in bandages and a baggy over sized shirt wasn't on the top of my list of things I want to do.

Kisame still hadn't surfaced as I wondered what the hell he was doing down in the depths of the spring. It didn't matter to much really I knew now that he could breathe easily underwater as I ran my finger tips over the worn steps.

Itachi's words echoed in my head 'he's a mist ninja. He wouldn't do the same for you' as I made little ripples in the calm teal surface of the water. I didn't know of Kisame's past, but I knew his fighting style was definitely honed so that only he would look after himself. Would Kisame actually defend me? But, then again why was I worried about him defending me, I could look after myself I had been through so much shit and I was still alive.

I sighed as the surface of the water rippled suddenly and large blue hands were resting on my thighs as I was suddenly staring at large golden eyes. I blinked as he rested his head against my stomach and draped his arms around my hips.

'Stay away from Itachi Kasumi' he mumbled as I blinked once again. How had he known that was what had been on my mind? Sometimes he scared me with how accurate he could be on what was running through my head.

'I don't try to run into him. It just happens' I mumbled as Kisame didn't say anything but I noticed how tense he was. The thought stuck me suddenly as I looked down. Kisame had been worried that Itachi had hurt me in some way. A smile came to my face as I moved and started massaging his overly tense shoulders. Being a medic had its advantages as I used a little chakra to loosen the muscles and stretch them as Kisame seemed to melt onto my lap.

I trusted Kisame. It had been a very long time since I had trusted anyone as I continued down his arms as I heard a snort come from Kisame. I stopped and looked down as I realised he had fallen asleep. I tried not to laugh as I continued across his shoulders and neck as a few deep snores echoed in the small cavern. It was peaceful as I wondered how tired Kisame must've been to sleep so much when I was around. I stopped and rested my hand on his wet hair as he seemed to stir and looked up at me.

'I fell asleep' he stated blinking owlishly as he pushed away from me and climbed out of the warm water. 'Kasumi. I really want you to stay away from Itachi as much as possible.' He cautioned me as he stepped over to a pile of towels that were stacked against the far wall on a little shelf as he dried off his face and hair before stripping off his shirt and pants wrapping the towel around his hips.

I whipped around quickly and faced the far cavern wall as I felt a towel strike me in the back of my head. I grabbed it and tried to dry out my hair as best as possible before wrapping the towel around my still sopping wet shirt dress.

Itachi's words were still nagging me as Kisame took my hand and pulled me to my feet. I'm still amazed by how gentle someone of his size and power level could be. His touches were always feather light and never inappropriate. I glanced over as he grinned and dumped another towel on my head for my sopping wet hair. I was about to make a snappy remark as Kisame suddenly stiffened, his hand whipped out and pulled me behind him so quickly I ran into his other arm that he had stretched behind him to stop me from crashing to the floor or wall. Which I probably would've done give my excellent balance.

'Sasori is coming to deliver a few messages from leader and exchange the items the woman managed to retrieve' I shuddered as Itachi's soft silky tenor drifted across the room. Kisame must've felt it as his retort was short but respectful.

'Indeed. I shall be ready then, thank you Itachi' Kisame's voice didn't betray anything other than a pleasant agreement as I assumed Itachi left as Kisame turned to face me. His eyes were burning with rage just contained as I fought back the urge to turn and run. There was a moment of tense silence before he sighed and turned away toward one of the far walls. I left him alone as I wrapped the towel more snugly around my head.

'Fuck it!' Kisame growled as his hand snapped out and made contact with the hard granite wall. I heard bone break as I winced and noticed that a massive chunk of cave wall fell out onto the smooth floor. I knew Kisame had power but the amount never ceased to amaze me and terrify me.

The solid wall of granite now had a massive rift reaching to the ceiling as Kisame stood glaring at the wall blood dripping from the gashes in his mangled knuckles and spattering onto the floor. I marched over to where he was and grabbed his injured hand lightly. He grunted in pain as I turned the appendage over in my hand. It wasn't terribly serious but he did have a few good gashes as I ripped a chunk of cloth from the towel and cleaned the worst of the cuts. No matter how good of a medic I was, some things just needed to be done the old fashioned way as I tore up the rest of the flimsy towel and wrapped his hand in the soft fabric.

We didn't say anything as I worked but I could feel him staring at me the entire time. I tied the bandage tight and looked up as I was surprised to see a small smile on his face. I stood frozen as he bent over and gently kissed my forehead then wrapped an arm over my shoulders.

'Thank you' he muttered as I suddenly found myself fighting down a massive blush that randomly seemed to infiltrate my cheeks. Kisame laughed as I looked at my feet as he ruffled my hair with a massive hand. 'Let's go get you dressed and ready for some training' he tugged me back down the hall his arm still holding me tightly against him.


	20. Sharky Business

**AN: WOW!!! I Cannot believe how popular this story has become! 658 hits! thanks everyone, I know this compared to many fanfics here this is just a little number but so far this has been my most popular story. I have to say THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!! For all the review, Ideas, criticism on my fanart on Deviantart. Everything. Without out guys I would've given up on To Love A Demon a long time ago. Now, enough of my rambling, this is a special chapter for everyone who love's Kisame P.O.V. on how Kasumi is and how he sees the world.**

**Enjoy!!! ~ Demonica (Tao-sempai)**

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I had really grown to love Kasumi in the last little while. Everything about her, and that was a great deal considering who she was. She never ceased to amaze me, sure there were things that irritated me such as how she was still frightened of me at times. But I figure that is instilled by the bloodline limit and I was accustomed to it.

Another thing that irritated me to no end about her was the apparent lack of basic social skills and understanding of when she was in danger. My blood was still rolling in anger from Itachi's latest stunt. I was going to have to talk about Itachi's issue with her, this was more than just a simple 'I hate your new partner' issue.

'Kisame, are we going to head out?' Kasumi's voice made me look up as I fought the urge to throw her on the bed and keep her there the entire day screaming my name. I never would've thought I had a thing for over weight girls but damn, Kasumi certainly had it in all of the right places. Certainly I would never tell her this as I swung samehada onto my back sneaking a peek at Kasumi in her shorts and issued mesh shirt and tank.

How and where she hid those daggers I gave her I had no idea but I really wanted to find out as I moved toward the door. She followed silently the one buckle on her boot clicking with each step. She still hadn't fixed it I grinned to myself, the broken buckle was as much a part of Kasumi as her scar or red eyes. It's just who she was.

I led her along the cool hallways triple checking for Itachi's chakra making sure he was in his room as we passed the kitchen and rounded a bend in the hall as we came to a large tree root with seals set on them.

'So… isn't this a dead end?' Kasumi asked as I glanced at her as decided that teaching would be a good option at the moment. She really had no idea the complexity and flexibility chakra had in its many forms. I turned to face her.

'Is there anything you can feel that's different about this wall?' I asked as Kasumi looked at me like I was an idiot before stepping closer to inspect the root. I waited as she looked over every inch of the stone wall and roots. After a moment she whirled and looked at me irritation on her face as her nose wrinkled ever so slightly that made her remind me of a irate puppy.

'Well there are seals on the wall and I know there's some type of jutsu needed' she stated as I wondered why she was so irritated, but then again it was Kasumi, she always seemed irritated when she was completely fine. I moved and gently spun her around as we were shoulder to shoulder.

'There are four basic steps to interpreting seals. First is to read the basic chakra signature, that usually gives the basic element the seal is bound with. Secondly, once that is established in your mind remember which seals are the strongest with which element, those will be the basic foundations on which the seal is built. Thirdly, you need to find and read if there are any other seals that might have limitations on the original two conditions such as chakra suppressing, chakra draining, exploding tags, illusion seals, and the like. Lastly with this in mind you can try to form the seals to open the gateway.' I explained as she seemed to absorb the knowledge as fast as I was talking. I stepped back as she looked at me oddly. I gestured at the wall as she looked surprised then irritated.

'you want me to open the seal?' she asked eyebrows vanishing in her bangs as I nodded. She huffed and turned around to face the wall. I knew this would take a moment as I watched. She put her hands together in the boar seal. That was good, she knew it was an earth styled seal but what it seemed she didn't realise was the dual tag of earth and water as her seals continued to fail.

After ten minutes she whipped around obviously frustrated and eye flashing as she was winded. I stood from leaning on the wall as she opened her mouth to snap at me. I pressed a finger against her lips as she glared at me.

'Listen, you had the first seal correct but you neglected to look for other tags. There was a water based one here that also needed activation at the same time for the passage to open' I explained as she didn't say anything but glared at the tree roots as if they'd insulted her. Oh Kasumi. I ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead as her irritation seemed to lessen somewhat as she leant against my side. It was simple things like this that I wouldn't change the world for as I shook myself and returned to teaching.

'Try again' I said stepping back again and missing her curves pressed against my side as she tried again, this time incorporating the ram symbol and a few others as she pushed chakra into the wall. It ate it greedily as a bright archway opened leading up gently to a bright green world as I followed Kasumi outside into the warm sunshine.

I had never liked Fire country it was always too warm and dry for my liking as kasumi seemed to enjoy it as a huge smile lit up her face. She seemed to enjoy the sunshine as I stayed in the shade. Sunburn was an all to irritating possibility for my skin, stupid bloodline limit. Kisame Hoshigaki was not going to be a purple ninja. That had happened once when I was a child, needless to say those children didn't laugh again.

Kasumi had stopped her frolicking or whatever she had been doing as she waited. Perplexing woman she was as I smirked and leant Samehada against a tree.

'Seeing as you've mastered the exploding water technique you should work on your clones' I stated as her face fell. I knew how much water clone creation irked her. She could never get her chakra balanced correctly through all of them, it was easy to pick her out from the clones every time.

'Why do I have to learn that one in particular. I'd rather learn something more as a retaining technique like a prison' she stated as I kept my own impatience at her hotheadedness in check. Politeness was one of the few virtues that seemed to be forgotten in this world as I turned to her.

'Kasumi, if you cannot balance your chakra in clones then how are you going to balance chakra to restrain someone in mist?' I asked as she seemed to get my point by frowning. At least we were now on the same page. I pushed my chakra into the ground and felt the familiar bubbling in my chest as a few gallons of water rushed out and filled a small hollow in the ground with enough water to fill a small swimming pool. Kasumi stepped onto its surface and began conjuring clones as I sat down and unwrapped samehada.

My sword hummed as an image of Kasumi ragged and breathing hard slicing Samehada through the shoulder of an enemy swam through my head. For most it would've been a disturbing image but for me it was oddly comforting and slightly arousing as I glanced over to where she was furiously trying to balance her chakra between three clones. She had two mastered but the third had a chakra level of a small bird or civilian.

Shaking my head I pulled out some polish for samehada's scales and a small cloth to rub it in as the sword clacked its scales like rain as I started rubbing the polish in. I needed to get more I noticed sadly, that meant a trip to mist very soon.

'Dammit Kisame give me a tip about this!' Kasumi's irritated voice made me look up. She was slightly winded once again as her two clones looked at one another and shrugged before patting her on the back. It was quite comical as she glared at the copies of herself. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me as I continued polishing Samehada.

'There isn't much I can tell you. It just requires you knowing how much chakra you need to divide evenly to match yours in the clones. Think of it like math, you can lower your chakra level as well to that of the clones as well' I explained as it seemed that a light came on in her mind. She went back to training.

I finished up with samehada as the sword pushed little chakra images into my mind, clacking as if trying to express different opinions to me. Over the years I had learnt to read the sentient swords persona. It really was bitchy, I liked to think of it as a nagging older sibling at times as an image of Itachi standing just out of sight watching Kasumi and I train made the whole incident involving Itachi spring back tot eh forefront of my mind.

Itachi.

That kid had a great amount of issues. I was pretty sure he thought any nuance in his life could be fixed with murdering the person or persons involved with it. I had to talk with him before he managed to talk with Zetsu. Even I found Zetsu freaky, cannibalism is definitely one of the few things that still makes me twitch, along with asparagus but we wont go into that. I instructed Kasumi on what she should work on and the basic scrolls on the mouth of the tunnel entrance. She assured me she would be fine training outside. I have a feeling the underground cavern gave her a claustrophobic feeling as she went back to trying to capture a squirrel in a water prison jutsu and not drowning the rodent as I headed back into the labyrinth of the base.

Samehada clacked noticing my irritation as I just let it do whatever it wanted. I had a bone to pick with a certain Uchiha. Was I suicidal? Probably but Itachi had messed with something that I had only known once in my life. Kindness and love. No I'm not going soft, it's a basic feeling that every human has no matter how monstrous they may appear. There's only so many times a person can be called a freak or have women run and scream from them before you go a little depressed and insane.

I headed for the living room because I knew Itachi would be lurking there either watching TV or reading as was two of his favourite hobbies. I did find Itachi lurking in the living room as he didn't look up from his book when I entered the room. It always bugged me how Itachi was always polite around everyone but me. Sometimes I wanted to punch the smug little bastard but I wouldn't. He was the only best friend I had ever had, as weird as it is for s- class murderers to have friends.

'I assume you wish to talk about what you walked in on with Kasumi and I in the Laundry this morning' Itachi didn't ask it as a question. He stated it as I didn't move. The Uchiha lazily looked up from his book flicking the page over. He didn't say anything more as my mind was racing and the urge to fight the Uchiha to the death was running rampant through me.

'Why do you feel the need to kill Kasumi?' I asked simply. Best to start at a basis and work a way up to more complex questions. Itachi didn't look up as he turned another page and gave a slight cough. Odd, as long as I had known Itachi he hadn't has so much as a sniffle.

'She irritates me' he said simply as I swore to the gods my eye twitched. I fought down the urge to slam him against the wall and demand a solid answer as my implanted manners were brought forward again.

'There must be more than simple irritation for you to want to murder her' I stated as Itachi didn't look up and flipped another page. The room was silent as I listened to the ticking of the old clock at the far end of the room and the smell of old stone seemed to cling to everything.

'Kasumi needs to learn control. She is foolish because she has no tact when using her words. She is brash, and grating. Women like that Kisame are useless in this world. Konan has tried to teach her but even she has deemed Kasumi impenetrable to the logic that comes with the etiquette of a kunoichi. I feel that she is more than a mere annoyance but a liability and nuisance to the Akatsuki.' Itachi looked up at me as I wanted to reach over and break his skinny neck. Manner. Kasumi was annoying Itachi because of her manners?!

'I see Itachi. The issue I find interesting is that you nail Kasumi on these factors but not Hidan or Deidara who have less manners than that of a common tart' I hissed as Itachi turned large obsidian eyes to me.

'They are men and shinobi, it is more expected of them to act with less civility and control than a woman, much less a kunoichi should have' he seemed to brush my comment off as I stepped closer to the couch.

'That is a very sexist comment.' I was being blunt, my manners were getting thin the more I dealt with Itachi as he looked up. Immediately a deadly clam seemed to settle in the room as my manners seemed to snap into my mind. 'Itachi, I feel that your judgement of Kasumi is harsh and while you are entitled to your own opinion I feel that you have misjudged her. I personally know of Kasumi's lack of knowledge in manner and social skills but I do not find them to be a handicap to the extent you suggest of effecting the Akatsuki.' I stated as the Uchiha looked up at me. Clearly he was not amused as another cough came from him. That cough was worrying as Itachi slumped more against the day lounger.

'Very well Kisame. I shall respect what you have said but I still find Kasumi a … grating personality. It would do you well to teach her some basic manners before Leader has a chance to talk with her again' Itachi stated as a massive cough wracked his small frame. I strode over to where the Uchiha was as he lay back with his eyes closed.

'Itachi are you alright?' I was concerned as he seemed to be in pain. I may have been angry at Itachi but still he was a companion and friend to me. Sharingan's greeted me as I stood straighter.

'I am fine Kisame' he bit out as I notice him move the hand he had coughed into. Flecks of red blood were mottled against his hand as I gave him a disbelieving look. 'your woman is here' Itachi stated as Kasumi then walked into the room looking anxious.

'Kisame, Konan is here to talk with you.' She announced as I nodded and glanced back at Itachi. I knew that if I said anything I'd be turned into shark steak faster than Kasumi could trap him in a water prison jutsu. I just nodded and left the Uchiha in the room following Kasumi. He long hair was out of its normal ponytail and flowed down her back as she took me back to where the library was. I went to move around her as she looked anxious about something.

'Are you alright?' I asked as she bit her lip for a moment and looked at my chest before nodding and walking down a different tunnel that looped back toward our room. I hoped she wouldn't get lost again and find Itachi as I slid open the door and entered.

Konan sat as regal as a queen on one of the teak desks in the small room. I closed the door behind me as she was folding a little flower.

'Kasumi seems to have picked up some of your manners Kisame. I am impressed' she mentioned as I was clearly stunned. I had just come from one conversation into a completely alternate universe it seemed.

'Interesting, what would you say she has acquired Konan?' I asked as she gave a slight laugh.

'for one the way you speak with me is much the same as she speaks to me now. Before she was… interesting to talk with. Coarse, had Hidan's talent of foul language and her… basic knowledge of greetings and such was atrocious. She actually bowed to me in the hallway this afternoon. I am impressed Kisame' she looked at me as if I were a kid who had given her a nice flower or something as I nodded.

'Was there something you wished to speak with me about?' I asked as she sighed and shifted on the desk.

'It seems that Leader has a mission for Kasumi and yourself. Itachi has requested solo missions for some time so it seems that leader wants you to make an assassination in Wind country' she said looking at me sadly. I fought the urge to wince. Wind country, that bloody desert. With my bloodline limit Wind country was nearly a death sentence for me. What had I done to piss off leader recently? Either that or what hadn't I done that had managed to irritate him?

'I see Konan.' I said as she gave me a look that was full of pity.

'Here is the scroll outlining who you are to assassinate. I believe it is a hidden mist ninja that has been working for the Mizu kage collecting information. We want that information and the messenger dead.' She outlined as I nodded and briefly read over the specifics. This was going to be hell, I absolutely HATED going anywhere near the desert. Hot, dry, and windy I climate that I abhorred. I was meant for cool, wet, and rainy.

'Kisame' I looked up as she had a ghost of a smile on her petite face. 'Good luck with Kasumi. She seems to really care about you' she said and disappeared in a flourish of paper slips. I suddenly felt tired as I looked at the scroll in my hand. Looked like Kasumi and I would be leaving sooner than I had expected, I would have o train her on the road, that was always annoying.

Turning I headed back to our room as I heard the distinct noise of a scurrying feet followed by heavier ones.

'Come now girl be reasonable. You like the shark man why not a little love for a plant?'

'I think we should just eat her.'

'Zetsu, Ow, that hurts let go of me!'

I felt rage boil up again as I heard a smack and a cry of pain before there was a snapping noise and a curse followed by the thud of a body being thrown against a wall. My pace quickened as I rounded the corner to see Zetsu crumpled in a heap on the floor and Kasumi looking utterly terrified. Immediately she ran over and virtually tackled into my chest as I braced myself not to fall over. She was hugging me tightly as I felt the front of my shirt getting wet.

I put a hand on her head. She had been scared of Zetsu as I gently pried her off of me and scooped her into my arms. Kasumi for her size was actually not that heavy, Carrying around a 190 pound woman didn't classify her as light but then again Samehada was about 200 and I wielded that with one arm. I stepped over Zetsu's limp body, I wondered what she had hit him with as I was focusing on making sure her vice like grip around my neck wasn't strangling me as I entered our room.

I sat on the bed adjusting her to sit in my lap as she buried her face in the crook of my neck. Honestly, I was perplexed by her actions. She had never been this openly clingy as I wondered what the hell Zetsu had done to frighten her so badly.

'kasumi, what did Zetsu do to you?' I asked gently. Kasumi was the only one that I was gentle around, despite her hard exterior she was completely loyal to me. I knew for a fact she loved me, this was a fact people not many people take a direct hit to the face from samehada and still walk up to me and kiss me. I ran my hands through her oddly damp hair, she shifted and looked up at me.

'He dragged me out of the shower demanding to know where you were. When I told him with Konan he threw me into the wall and said that I should be on my guard more. Then he kissed me. God it was HORRIBLE Kisame. Then I was running, and after that most of it's a blur' She looked like she was about to break down as I ran a hand through her hair.

I was perplexed, Hidan tries to rape her she doesn't bat an eyelash and Zetsu kisses her and she's traumatized. But then again Zetsu himself is traumatizing just to see. I shifted so that we were laying down and she was half sprawled over me as I rubbed small circles on her back.

'Don't worry Kasumi. Itachi will deal with Zetsu. We're leave for Wind country tomorrow' I said as large crimson eyes met mine. That was one thing I had noticed over the last year was the change in the colour of her eyes. They had gone from a flat maroon to a brilliant red like candied apples as she nodded and snuggled in closer to me. I lay a hand on the small of her back as she sighed and simply lay there. Guilty pleasure for me but then again I was a demon. Sin city was my home.

Soon enough my stomach got the better of me as Kasumi was sound asleep. After all of the training and everything today she must've been tired. I slid out from underneath her and walked to the door before locking it securely behind me. Zetsu had obviously removed himself from the floor as I headed to the kitchen. Funny enough Zetsu sat with four ice packs on various locations of his body. One I was rather pleased to see with his groin as I stepped in.

'Evening Zetsu. Have a rough time getting here?' I asked, ever the pleasant one as Zetsu's black half gave me the finger as I smirked to myself and looked in the fridge. Dango, some fruit, a loaf of bread, tofu, and peanut butter.

I was definitely living with Itachi.

Just for the record, Itachi CANNOT cook to save his life. I pulled out the bread and made sandwiches before slicing up the remaining apples and a rather random pineapple that looked like it had seen better days. I turned to leave as Itachi strode in with a smirk on his face as he looked at Zetsu before his face darkened when he turned to me.

'Good luck on your mission to Wind Country' Itachi said quietly as I nodded. As I passed him he gave my shoulder a nudge. It seemed that I was forgiven for earlier about our discussion with Kasumi. I hit the hem of his robe with my heel before continuing on. He knew I was still irked but I acknowledged his attempt at trying to smooth my ruffled feathers… err… sharkskin as I brought food back to Kasumi.

She was still asleep as I set the food on the small night table beside the bed and crawled in beside her. She had shifted slightly hugging one of the oversized pillows against her chest while she slumbered on. We spent a great deal of time sleeping I realized, well there wasn't much else to do other than sleep, train, missions and healing.

Gently I pulled her hair back from her face as I noticed dark finger like bruises on her cheeks and shoulders. Immediately I knew to whom they belonged to and vicious rage seemed to rise as I moved more of her hair back. Her shoulder was turning a dark black purple and it looked like she hand more hand like bruises on her arms as I felt myself getting to my feet.

I left my room and headed for the Kitchen. Zetsu was in for a word of hurt as Samehada clacked happily on my back at the impending bloodshed that was to occur. I entered the kitchen to see Zetsu standing by the door talking to Itachi. In one solid movement I punched Zetsu through the doors and out into the koi pond. I stepped through the hole his body had made as the cannibal was getting to his feet drenched with weeds sticking to his hair and face.

'Don't you know its impolite to strike a man without reason Kisame?' The white half spat. At this moment I didn't care. There was an unwritten rule in the Akatsuki, you did touch each others stuff, Kasumi was now associated as mine as much as Konan was Leader's. It was very backwards way to think about it but it got across to even the most stupid of the members.

'I have more than enough reason Zetsu. Forcing yourself on one of the other Akatsuki members, especially Kasumi, is more than enough reason for me to shave your head off of your body.' I stated. I knew Itachi had come out of the kitchen interested in seeing me so riled up about something. Zetsu shook the plant matter from his head as I kept my ground.

'Bastard' His black half spat as the white half glared at me.

'Are you labelling her as yours than Kisame?' the white half said with a slight smirk in his voice. I didn't dignify that with a response, it was known throughout the Akatsuki without having verbal confirmation as I waited for him to attack. Zetsu chuckled. 'Very well then. I am sorry to have angered you and will…. Refrain from touching your little toy again' he said as I felt a growl rising in my chest. Bastard was goading me and he knew it.

'That bitch was fun, tasted wonderful too. Like cinnamon and vanilla' the black half cackled as I lost my temper. I swung samehada in an ark as Zetsu jumped back and slip in half. I managed to clip one before the other tackled me and sunk a kunai into my side. I grabbed his neck with one hand and swung the body clear of me before it disappeared in a flourish of leaves. The real Zetsu I had managed to clip with Samehada was bleeding profusely from a damaged arm as beady yellow eyes glared at me.

'Touch Kasumi again and it's your head' I threatened as Zetsu didn't say anything and sunk into the ground disappearing from the hideout. I turned to see Itachi standing looking at me, thoroughly amused and somewhat pissed off as I walked back into the house.

'You will have a repercussion from leader for that.' He commented as I shot the Uchiha a glance.

'He's sending me to Wind. That in itself is already a repercussion and near death sentence for someone such as myself' I said as Itachi nodded. Nothing more was said as I headed back to my room. I was still bleeding from the stab wound as I shucked off my arm warmers and shirt. I knew I had bandages and salves in my cloak as I slid the bedroom door shut and headed for the bathroom.

'Kisame what happened to your side?!' Shit, Kasumi was awake as immediately there was a kunoichi probing the wound at my side. To say I didn't want her concern wasn't true, I just didn't think it was major enough for her to have to worry about as I gently grabbed his blood slicked hands.

'I'm fine. It looks worse than it is. I just didn't move fast enough when Zetsu tossed a kunai during training' I explained. She knew I was lying, you really cannot lie to medics its like trying to lie to a parent they just knew these things.

'Bullshit. This gash is at least two inches deep and eight long. You would have to have someone hit you with the intent of doing damage tog et this wound. Why were you fighting with Zetsu?!' she demanded hands on her hips and eyes like liquid fire as she waited for my response.

Honestly, even pissed off I found an aspect about Kasumi completely entrancing and it was her eyes. I sighed and pulled her against me for a hug. She resisted for a moment or two before giving up as I kissed her gently. Kasumi really had no experience kissing but she was slowly learning little things as I gently ran my tongue across her lower lip and she opened her mouth.

Zetsu's comment ran through my head as I pulled her more tightly against me and the kiss deepened. It still amazed me that Kasumi allowed me to do such things as I grabbed her ass and lifted her onto the desk so we were at the same height. This was definitely a much more pleasant way to pass time as we broke apart both breathing heavily as she slumped against me her legs still locked around my hips and arms over my shoulders. I kissed her forehead as she sighed.

'Are you hungry?' I asked as she nodded and we disentangled ourselves and I handed her a sandwich. She ate it quietly as I leant against the side of the desk eating my own sandwich. Companionship was a wonderful feeling, I had always had Itachi as a friend in the Akatsuki. It was a nice feeling but with Kasumi she seemed to quench that constant nagging anger that was always just asking to push forward and let me go on a killing spree. I didn't know when it began but I loved violence, the more gore the better in my opinion but Kasumi seemed to be able to turn that off within me. Weird as hell really. What was worse is I couldn't explain it any better than that as she hopped off the desk and stepped into the bathroom. I heard the shower start up as I ate another one of the sandwiches and slid onto the bed to finish my book.

I was just opening it once again when there was a knock at the bedroom door. Now who was it?! I closed my book and opened the door to see Itachi standing there a light blue scroll in his hands.

'It seems your mission plans have changed. You and I have a mission in Sound country and Kasumi is to go to Grass with Hidan and Kakuzu. After that you two will meet up and head to Wind.' Itachi explained as I felt familiar anger rise in my chest. There was no way I was leaving Kasumi with Hidan. That was just asking for trouble.

'Itachi you know as well as I that this is a bad idea for mission partners' I explained as Itachi gave me a dark look.

'I have no influence on who leader-sama picks for teams for missions. Inform Kasumi that she leaves as soon as Hidan and Kakuzu arrive. We leave at the same time.' Itachi explained before turning and heading down the hall toward his room. I closed the door and glared at the little scroll in my hand. Kasumi's name was written on it in Konan's elegant calligraphy as the bathroom door clacked open and Kasumi stepped out wearing one of my shirts. She looked good in it, despite it being massive on her and rather shapeless as she hopped into the large bed. I didn't want to tell her she'd be spending the next week with Hidan and Kakuzu. I knew how much Hidan struck a nerve with her.

I crossed the room and climbed into bed shutting off the little lamp as I felt Kasumi snuggle into my side and drape her arm across my waist.

'Kasumi, there's been a change in missions plans' I started as even though I couldn't see her face in the inky blackness I knew large eyes were staring at me questioning.

'How so?' her voice was level as she shifted, propping herself up on one arm.

'You will be going with Kakuzu and Hidan to Grass for a mission for a week before you and I head to Wind country for that assassination.' I explained as I felt her tense. This was not going to be good.

'I…. see….' She said her voice betraying the anger she was holding back. I nearly laughed, Kasumi had anger issues much like I did but hers were much more prolonged than mine was. I gently pulled her to me as she rested her head on my chest. Her hair was still damp as she sighed.

'It's only a week long mission Kasumi. Then our next mission should take about 3 weeks or so to complete.' I explained as she nodded but didn't say anything. I wasn't worried about her going with the zombie twins. Kakuzu was a decent man from my conversations with him. Just a tad obsessed with money and bounties where as Hidan I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw him.

'I have a feeling I'll end up castrating Hidan with a rusty spoon' she mumbled into my neck as I burst out laughing. Having Kasumi trying to hide the immortal's privates from him seemed like a hilarious prank to pull as I heard a giggle from where she was lying. I ran my hand through her hair my eyelids were starting to feel heavy as all I could smell was her shampoo and her own wonderfully earthy smell as I heard a light snore from my chest. Kasumi had fallen asleep as I smiled to myself. She was so lazy, always falling asleep any chance she managed to get.

I knew morning would come much to early for my liking as would Hidan and Kakuzu as I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep lulled by Kasumi's light snores.


	21. Mission: Pain in the grASS

'OI SHARKY, WOMAN, STOP SPOONING AND GET UP!' I knew that voice as I flipped Hidan the bird and snuggled closer to Kisame's warmth.

'You're so eloquent in the mornings Hidan' I heard Kisame's grumble followed by a thump and a great deal of cursing. 'Come on Kasumi the zealot wont shut up until we're dressed and ready to leave' Kisame mumbled in my ear as I kept a firm grip on his waist.

'He can wait ten more minutes' I grumbled holding onto my source of warmth, he laughed and gently but firmly disentangled himself from me leaving the bed.

'Hidan, get up off the floor. Kisame we expect for Kasumi to be ready in fifteen minutes' Kakuzu's low baritone left no room for argument as I heard the door slide shut. I assumed that Kakuzu was anxious to get moving as I hauled myself out of bed. I was so sore from Zetsu throwing me around. Wincing I healed the worst of the bruises leaving only light yellow patches on my skin to mark where they had once been.

'Kasumi' I turned to see Kisame looking at me with a slight sadness in his face as he reached over and pulled me against him. He kissed me sweetly, there was one thing no one could ever say about the shark ninja he was NOT a bad kisser. He pulled back as I was out of breath. He grinned and kissed my forehead pressing a bundle of my clothing and my cloak into my arms. 'Go get dressed. They'll be wondering where you are shortly' he stated. I changed quickly while I heard him rummaging around in his own cloak. I came back out of the bathroom as Kisame stood fully dressed with Samehada slung over his back holding out my black backpack. I took it from him as he kissed my forehead again and vanished in a flourish of mist.

I was less classy and walked out the door making sure the lights were off in the little room and headed for the kitchen. By now I knew all of the Akatsuki bases had the same funny layout. Roughly a square or circle in this case with rooms spiking off of it. I entered the Kitchen to see Kakuzu reading a paper and Hidan twirling a wicked looking scythe that I distantly remembered him hitting me with when he and Kisame had captured me. Funny how at the time I had been terrified and tried to escape, now I probably would run to them with open arms. Well… Kisame at least. I'd probably still try to castrate Hidan with a rusty spoon if he tried anything.

Kakuzu looked up from his paper before quickly folding it and stashing it inside of his cloak before grabbing a large silver briefcase.

'Let's go. We're early for once' Kakuzu mumbled as Hidan scoffed.

'What's that supposed to mean?!' he snapped as Kakuzu shot his partner a glare. I sighed, this was going to be a LONG mission.

We stepped out onto the long winding road as Hidan started whining about EVERYTHING. Its was too cold, he was tired, his feet hurt, the birds were too loud, my face was annoying, Kakuzu was a bastard, how much longer did it take to get to grass, it NEVER ENDED!!! I jogged a little to catch up to Kakuzu as the miser glanced down at me.

'he never shuts up does he?' I asked as Kakuzu seemed amused and glanced back at Hidan who was glaring daggers into my back, I knew he was.

'No. Sadly.' Was all Kakuzu said as we kept walking. Soon Hidan gave up complaining and started harassing me. He'd poke me with his scythe, say crude comments about my weight, height, hair and eye colour, it came to a point where he even dared to call me Kisame's whore when I whipped out once of my blades and had it to his neck so fast it even surprised Kakuzu that I could move that fast.

'Take that comment back Hidan' I snapped as the immortal grinned at me with glee.

'Or what? You cant kill me!' He was grinning as I moved the knife to his crotch. Then he got my warning as his face hardened. 'You wouldn't dare' he growled as I lent closer to him pushing the blade so that it bit in.

'Don't try me' I hissed as Kakuzu grumbled something and I stepped away from the zealot and caught up to the rapidly disappearing figure of Kakuzu. I still had a healthy dose of fear for both the men but Hidan was playing with fire when it came to me and I have no qualms about cutting off his genitals and hiding them in the far reaches of Wind country under a scorpion infested rock. A tad graphic but it worked.

Towns rolled by as I was starting to feel fatigued and Hidan had progressed from whining to outright bitching.

'Hidan…. SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I WILL STAB YOU IN THE FACE!' I roared as Hidan grinned.

'Like you could!' He laughed as I growled.

'Don't tempt me!' I snapped as Kakuzu ignored the both of us. I honestly wished I had his type of control.

'Both of you shut up. Hidan stop bitching or I'll let kasumi castrate you with a rusty spoon, and Kasumi stop rising to his barbs. We'll stay here tonight' Kakuzu said before grabbing the strap on my back pack and hauling me inside of a rather shifty looking motel. Hidan followed with a litany of profanity, I was just glad that I could sleep for a few hours and eat something. I still wondered what type of mission this on was to grass as I followed Kakuzu up a flight of rickety stairs and down a dark musty smelling hallway. The whole place was shifty at best as the three of us entered the room. There were two twin beds and a couch. I assumed the couch was for me as I set my stuff on it. Hidan disappeared into the bathroom and I soon heard a shower running.

I glanced over at Kakuzu who was counting a massive wad of cash much like the other five bricks that were in the suitcase. I flopped back and munched on an apple that Kisame had packed in my backpack. It was funny he took better care of me that I ever did for him.

'Hey Kakuzu what are we going after in grass anyway?' I asked looking over the couch upside down at him. He glanced over at me then went back to counting his money. There's a scroll being delivered from Mist country that Leader-sama wants in his possession. Supposedly it has information on the tailed beasts and which elements control which tailed beast.' Kakuzu explained as I nodded and went back to munching my apple. There seemed to be quite a few missions lately involving Mist. If I was correct Mist was… unstable to stay the least. No one knew which side of the island was united with who or just who the Mizukage was. Hell, they didn't even know if their Kage was male or female. Not to mention all of the different uprisings and such, and the fact that it was one of the poorest ninja nations. Only rivalled by that random new country, Sound that had seemingly popped up in the last few months, supposedly the people there were poorer than dirt.

Hidan came out of the bathroom as I finished off my apple and chucked the core into the waste bin. Hidan didn't say anything but flopped on the other bed making the springs groan obnoxiously.

'Good night fuckers' he grumbled.

'Night jerk off' I retorted as I heard a snort. I didn't know who it was from as I soon drifted to sleep knowing Kakuzu and Hidan would want to be moving again as soon as it was light outside. I was shaken awake in the middle of the night as I noticed I had a hand clamped over my mouth and a very irritated pair of missing ninja were glaring at me. I had to explain the nightmares as both grumbled but left me alone as I once again went back to sleep.

Sure enough Kakuzu had us up and marching along again well before even the song birds had a chance to wake up. Hidan didn't seem to particularly care as he just bitched more.

'I don't get you heathens. Why wouldn't you want to live for ever and become immortal?' he asked as I shrugged.

'It's unnatural' I said offhandedly as Hidan laughed.

'Says the woman sleeping with a 300 pound blue shark-man' he snipped as I shrugged. Honestly I was too tired today to really rise to Hidan's barbs. Sure he was annoying as fuck but I was more afraid of Kakuzu. Always fear the quiet ones. They seemed the most dangerous as I had learnt from dealing with Itachi.

'Certainly knows how to make a girl scream his name though' I shot back as Hidan fell silent. He obviously had not been expecting that comment. I came into stride with Kakuzu as he gave me a sidelong glance.

'Thanks for shutting him up' he said as I nodded. Kakuzu I think I could get along with if I just played the talk only when necessary card. Hidan was out of the question, all we would ever do would be argue or fight. We walked in silence again as we passed through four more towns before Kakuzu called a lunch break. I left the duo and wandered through town. I was becoming shockingly adept at pick pocketing as I managed to steal a man's wallet and get about 70 ryo out of it. I left the wallet on the street and went into the nearest tea shop. I had a nice lunch and some tea before I went and bought a few balls of mochi from a little bakery. I loved the stuff and I was more than sure that the other two would, even if Kakuzu freaked out that I spent money. But hey, it wasn't his so he shouldn't complain as I met back up with the other two.

Hidan was arguing with Kakuzu as suddenly black threads came from under Kakuzu's cloak and sewed Hidan's mouth shut. I froze. So THAT was Kakuzu's talent. He had some crazy control over strings or wires or whatever those black things were. Hidan was now waving his arms still shouting but it was muffled because he couldn't actually open his lips.

Kakuzu must've noticed my chakra as I stepped over. Hidan stopped and looked at me before pointing at the box.

'I bought mochi and before you ask Kakuzu I pick pocketed someone for the money' I stated as Kakuzu's frown seemed to lessen. Hidan was laughing and said something that I think was 'she's resorting to common thievery what a stupid cunt' or something like that. I glared at him.

'Fine no mochi for you Hidan. Would you like one Kakuzu?' I asked sitting down and unwrapping one of the little rice paste treats and took a huge bite. The red bean paste was sweet as the stuck to the roof of my mouth. The miser shrugged and took one pulling down his mask and eating the treat. I was surprised to see the huge stitches across the lower part of his tanned face. Oddly enough Kakuzu and I had roughly the same skin tone as Hidan looked pissed that he couldn't have one.

Now, really, I am a bitch. But I'm not completely heartless especially when I bought more than enough for everyone to have two. I looked up at Kakuzu.

'Can you remove the stitches in his mouth?' I asked as Kakuzu looked at me rather irritated.

'You want me to let his run his mouth?' he was definitely angry as I offered him another mochi. His anger seemed to dissipate a little as he glanced over at the fuming zealot. 'fine.' The black stitches fell away as Hidan opened his mouth.

'Hidan!' I roared as the jashinist glared at me.

'You little-'

'Mochi? I bought two just for you' I said as he froze, scythe pointing at the outstretched box of treats, mouth open eyebrows lowered as he straightened.

'You fucking what now?' he said clearly surprised.

'I. bought. You. Two. Mochi.' I said as if talking to a two year old as I finished my first one. Hidan was clearly perplexed as he reached out and took one of the coconut covered squishy treats. He looked at it before taking a bite. His eyes widened as he quickly shovelled it into his mouth.

'The shit is fucking amazing!' he grinned and grabbed another two. I passed the box up to Kakuzu who took another as I took the last one and sat munching on it. I didn't expect a thanks from either of them as I put the box in the trash.

Soon enough we were on the road again.

'hey bitch, why Kisame of all the fucks?' Hidan asked as I glanced back at him. Ever the elegant one when asking questions Hidan was.

'He's polite, respectful, and despite his appearance is very human. Plus he doesn't judge' I said as Hidan scoffed.

'Fuck that, he's Jashin damned blue! Hey, if he's a shark does he have one dick or two?' Hidan had a huge grin across his face as I felt my eye twitch. My nerves were being grated enough as it was.

'Ask him the next time you see him. I'm sure he'd love to show you' I smirked as I heard a gagging noise. I grinned happily having thoroughly disgusted Hidan turning I noticed Kakuzu was shaking his head and his shoulders were shaking. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing as Hidan was cussing me out calling me every degrading name in the book as I ignored him.

'Hidan shut up, or I will make Kasumi take your one short penis to Wind country and hide it under a scorpion infested rock' Kakuzu said icily as the zealot fell silent save for a few grumbles as we passed through yet another town. I bit back a torrent of laughter, well it seemed Kakuzu and I were on the same page.

Hidan didn't say much of anything for the next hour as we definitely crossed the border from Fire country into Grass as the thick forests gave way to gently rolling grasslands as far as the eye could see. It didn't off much protection from the elements as I soon noticed that Hidan was getting sunburnt.

'Fucking sun!' he cursed as I held out my hat to him. He looked at me suspiciously as I motioned for him to take it. 'Do I look like I need your fucking charity?!' he snapped , I glared.

'No but you fucking will take the god damned hat unless you want to be Fucking burnt and miserable for the next week' I spat as Hidan seemed to want to rise to my retort as a traveller walked by on the road.

'my my, sibling disputes. You two really should work out your anger' an older man said as both Hidan and I glared at the man. He quickly removed his gave and hurried along. Suddenly the hat was snatched from my hand and Hidan was back wearing my hat shading his nearly white skin from the sun.

'Say anything and you loose your boobs' he spat as I shot a glare at him.

'You heard Kakuzu's threat earlier.' I left the threat hanging and caught up to the masked miser. The sun slowly set as we arrived in the main city of grass. Hidan gave me back my hat, well he threw it at the back of my head but still, and it was fixed firmly in place as Kakuzu fitted us with a room. I got to sleep on the couch. Woo freaking hoo and the others got beds.

The springs pushed awkwardly into my spine as Kakuzu finished cleaning up the bento boxes he had acquired for us. Honestly it had tasted like crap but hey, food was food I wasn't going to bitch as I tried to sleep. It was more difficult now that I wasn't as tired as I lay there listening to Hidan mumble in his sleep and Kakuzu snore. I rolled over again wondering why I couldn't sleep, there was something nagging me at the back of my mind like I was missing something as it clicked.

I was missing Kisame sleeping next to me. I had become so accustomed to it to keep the vicious nightmares at bay. It seemed that they still crept up on me as I lay there staring at the bland ceiling. Soon I drifted to sleep, uncomfortable and too cold for my liking. My nightmare popped up again as this time I had Hidan kicking me off of the couch to keep me from screaming. I was immediately awake and the Zealot went back to his bed swearing as I managed to grab my blanket and curl up again.

I was going to sleep for a week after this mission I determined as I once again drifted to sleep. We were going to be here for three or four days depending on how long it took us to locate the ninja and the scroll. But then again it wouldn't be hard to pick out a Mist ninja. After all from what I had seen of Kisame they were massive ninja, easily spotted.

'Get up' I heard the command as I sat up. Kakuzu shoved a bowl of what looked like rice under my nose. I took it and started eating as Hidan stepped out of the bathroom completely naked. I fixated on my bowl. 'Hidan put on some pants. No one wants to see that' Kakuzu growled as the zealot turned around giving both of us a full frontal view.

'What's the matter? Shy Kakuzu?' Hidan grinned as Kakuzu threw an empty bowl at his head. Of course it made contact with Hidan's forehead as the zealot fell to the floor with a crash. 'OI FUCKER WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!' Hidan screamed as Kakuzu threw his cloak over him.

'Get moving, we need to scout the area. Kasumi I need you to get information on the whereabouts of the scroll' he said as I nodded. Something soft and silky hit my face. Oh no not again. I looked at the sheer midnight blue cocktail dress that Kakuzu had thrown at me.

How degrading to be a kunoichi. Seducing men for information, honestly it made me sick. I stood and put my genjutsu into place before stepping into the bathroom and changing into the dress. It was beautiful really. It was halter styled with no back at all and the skirt hung in light layers to my knees. I looked at myself, really it would look that much better without my genjutsu but I couldn't risk being spotted.

I stepped out of the bathroom as I heard a cat call. I was not going to kill Hidan, I was not going to kill him. I heard a whistle after that as I saw him raise an eyebrow. Okay, never mind, I was going to personally remove his genitals and hide them. Serve him right.

I turned as a pair of heels swung into my vision. Kakuzu did not look amused as I quickly took the death traps from him and put them on.

'Lets go, Hidan. Kasumi, we'll leave you at the club. This is the man we are looking for try to find any information you can' Kakuzu handed me a crinkled photo of a man in his thirties with long scruffy blonde hair and pale white almost transparent skin with vicious pointed teeth. I nodded and slipped the photo into my bra. We left the hotel and headed into town. Honestly I thought it was a little bit early for me to be going to a club of all places. It was probably about 11 am at the latest as A few people gave me glances as we stepped into town. Kakuzu had made it look as if he and Hidan were body guards as we walked into town. Oddly enough most people didn't even seem to take heed of the three strangers as we came to a black door with red writing on it.

'The Cerulean Feather' I mumbled as Kakuzu shot me a look that clearly told me to shut up or die. I wasn't about to test him as I kept my mouth shut. Kakuzu rapped sharply three times as the door swung inward. We entered as a short woman closed the door behind us and I could hear low music playing, it sounded like Jazz instead of techno that I always had associated with clubs. She bowed to us as Hidan gave me a shove toward where I could see a stainless steel bar with cerulean blue light accents. Hidan gave me the finger before the duo disappeared.

Never trust the Akatsuki, even if you were a member.

I followed the little woman as the narrow entry way opened up onto a three level dance floor. There were a few people milling about dressed in much the same fashion as I was. They didn't seem to really notice me or care.

Well start out at the bottom rung. I went over to the bar and sat on one of the hard moulded plastic chairs. The bar tender was your typical 25 year old as I requested a Mojito and paid him. He was definitely interested as I swallowed whatever pride I had and began my part as the information whore.

'So…I heard from various sources that a man I might be looking for is here' I said in a silky tone as the bartender was clearly hooked.

'Who are you looking for gorgeous?' he asked sleezy smile on his face as I nearly gagged on my drink. Disgusting little fuck. I played it cool as I slide the photo from my bar making sure to let my fingers drift across my breast before sighing and opening the now very creased photo.

'He's my late husbands renegade brother, I've been looking everywhere for him. He has a scroll that he was to give to me.' I gave a bit of a sniff folding the photo and replacing it. This boy was falling for this hook line and sinker. He leant on the table and stared at me.

'A scroll, well I think I know the direction to point you. He usually hangs out in the VIP lounge. He's a regular around here. Hmmm….' He seemed to survey the room behind me. 'personally the guy is a douche. Last time he was here he raped one of the hostesses and broke the VIP bar tenders arm. Neither of them will say anything because he's absolutely terrifying.' He paused as nodded as someone before looking back to me. 'but you didn't hear that from me' he said as I gave a playful smile.

'Hear what?' I said as he grinned. A moment later a woman dressed in an elegant white cocktail dress of chiffon strode over to the bar.

'What do you want Rei?' she snapped. She was definitely from Wind by her high nasally accent as the bar tender smiled.

'Sara, this is Miss?' he glanced at me.

'Hoshigaki' I quickly supplied 'but you may call me Temari' I said as the woman nodded.

'You must be from Mist country' She stated as I nodded and gave a polite smile.

'You caught me' I said mimicking the light lilt Kisame had in his voice Hold the vowels a little longer and pronouncing the consonants. She nodded.

'What do you want Rei?' she equipped as he leant close to us across the table.

'Missy here needs to see Blondie up in the VIP lounge. She's here to… collect a scroll.' he said Sara looked at me with a grin on her face. She seemed to size me up.

'well doll, let me give you a little fresh up on your make up. Then you can go see him' she said as I nodded. I gave the bar tender a wink as he grinned and I followed Sara. We went to a room with a black velvet curtain which turned out to be a very sophisticated bathroom. Again in the colours of blue and grey as a lanky woman seemed to attack my face with powders, glosses and liners. I hated makeup, it always made me feel so fake. But then again for this I was being fake, I was being a whore. It made my skin crawl as I resisted the urge to dump myself into a vat of scalding water.

'There, now lets go' Sara led me from the room. People didn't seem to notice me as we entered a glass elevator and Sara punched a button with a silver feather on it. The lift went up as soon the people mingling were lost below. When the doors opened I smiled. The room was beautiful, long and narrow with plush blue couches, hundreds upon hundreds of white blue lanterns covering every inch of the ceiling. Women carrying trays of steel in black dresses with their hair slicked back marched around as Men and women alike lounged on the couches with others talking and smiling.

Once again no one paid me any attention as Sara led me to a couch near the back. As I came closer to the couch I could see the man that I was supposed to lure from the club. He was a massive man, not fat, just… huge. He was roughly Kisame's height but thinner and showed less bulk. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he was wearing a blue silk dress shirt and black slacks. He had some type of amber liquid in a glass as Sara smiled and put a hand on her hip.

'Good evening Mr. Hamasaki. There is a young lady here who wishes to meet you' Sara said as the blonde man turned and looked at me. I held firm as his eyes raked over my body and obviously liked what he saw.

'hm… and how would I know this….delectable young woman?' he smirked as I fought down the urge to vomit. He was twirling the amber liquid in his glass and obviously undressing me with his eyes. He really was a disgusting creature. I moved and sat on the couch beside him sinking in as he rested an arm over the couch behind my head. In all honesty it gave me a claustrophobic feeling as I pretended I enjoyed it.

'You see….when I heard you were in the club here I came to see if it was true. I'm the widow of the late Kisame Hoshigaki' I added a little sniff in there. Oh yes, I was going to play the desperate, lonely, heartbroken widow. I felt him stiffen as I looked up at him, he seemed to be reading my face as I showed nothing but grief and sorrow. Honestly the idea of Kisame dead set me on edge. My heart racing and my stomach churning as I reigned it in and focused on my task.

'Hoshigaki's dead?' he said as I nodded and closed my eyes. He let out a long whistle and put a hand on my shoulder. 'That's… horrible to know. He was the last of his line. Tragic, utterly tragic, you poor, poor girl. He was a good warrior, even if he did defect from mist. He still fought like no other man I knew.' He said as I nodded and blinked fake tears from my eyes.

'He wanted me to find you and say that….I need to be taken back to Mist.' I sniffed as I leant into him. God I hated playing this role. It honestly made my stomach churn as I could smell his repulsive overpowering cologne. Maybe that was just that as I knew that I had played my part efficiently. This guy just wanted to get laid. Getting Kisame Hoshigaki's widow was a bonus. Not many people can say they slept with an S-class criminals wife and walk away from it. Little did he know I was just in this for the scroll.

I was essentially sitting in his lap as he ordered us drinks. I barely touched mine as he downed a few. Needless to say it wasn't long before his lips were kissing the side of my neck and his hands were playing with the hem of my dress.

Don't hit him, don't puke, don't scream, don't do ANYTHING Kasumi you can do this. Just a little bit longer and you can lure him back to the hotel. It was my mantra. I couldn't repress a shiver as he kissed the side of my neck. He assumed it was pleasure not utter revulsion as he moved to whisper in my ear.

'Would you like to go… somewhere else?' he muttered as I pretended to become breathless.

'how about we go to my hotel' I breathed as a sly grin crossed his face.

'sounds… wonderful' he said taking my hand as I led him from the VIP lounge. I saw Sara and Rei as I slipped past and out into the street. I knew as soon as I was outside that Kakuzu and Hidan were watching.

'So why are you here?' I asked turning up another street as I knew he was watching the way my breasts moved under the sheer fabric of the dress.

'I have to deliver a scroll to a diplomat here' he said grinning and patting his pocket. I nodded and gave a seductive smile.

'It must be important for such a strong man to be carrying it' I breathed as we came to the entrance of the hotel. He didn't ever seem to notice as I led him up the rickedy stairway and to the door. I stopped in front of the door and put the key in the door as large hands spun me around. I was crushed against the door as he kissed me hard. I could feel my lips bruising as the door opened and we fell inside. I took a step back as he grabbed my shoulders and kissed me again forcing my mouth open as I started to panic. Hidan KAKUZU?!?!?!

He was pushing me to the bed as I had had enough. I pulled out one of my daggers from under the hem of my skirt as I sank it into his ribs. He gave a gasp and jumped away as he was suddenly slammed into the floor. I looked at the door to see a VERY irritated Kakuzu and a grinning Hidan as I moved backward from Hanasaki.

'Pass me your knife whore' Hidan snapped as I tossed him the blood drenched dagger. I watched as his body transformed and he drew a crazy symbol on the ground. But ,what was the weirdest was that he ate the blood.

Hanasaki was getting to his feet as he saw me first.

'You little cunt!' he roared and tried to charge me as Hidan sunk the three blades of his scythe into his own skin. There was a gurgle as Hidan screamed in what sounded like pleasure. I felt something bite into my skin as I realized I had broken the inkwell on the desk and jagged glass was sticking into my skin. I watched as Hidan ripped the scythe from his body then drew a jagged gash across his lower abdomen.

Blood was gushing out of Hanasaki as he turned and seemed to realize it was Hidan who was his problem as he charged. Not a very bright man.

'You're as dumb as you look you fucker!' Hidan cackled. 'In the name of my Lord Jashin I sacrifice thee!' he bellowed as Kakuzu I swore rolled his eyes. Hidan stabbed himself in the heart as I watched Hanasaki falter, grab his chest and collapse to the floor with a grunt. Dead as a doorknob.

I was still frozen as Kakuzu walked over and grabbed the scroll from the man's hip pouch and in a single slice carved the man's head from his body. It was then I realized how efficient Hidan and Kakuzu were as a pair. They were downright terrifying. I looked over to my right, Hidan was mumbling something to himself and now lying in a massive pool of blood staring at the ceiling. I didn't understand his religion, but I had a healthy respect NEVER to become involved or question it. I sat down on the bed and put my head between my knees. I felt like I was going to vomit as the stench of the blood started to get to me.

I stood and stepped over Hidan. Honestly I didn't care if he saw up my dress, I just needed to get fresh air. I walked out of the hotel and into the street as Kakuzu soon followed, the head stashed in a canvas bag.

'You did well' he mumbled as I nodded leaning against a nearby rainspout. I didn't feel like I did well. I knew my lips were probably already turning purple from bruising and there was a cut on the left side of my top lip. But at the moment I really didn't care. 'If you might vomit go elsewhere' Kakuzu grumbled as I nodded and turned away.

As soon as I turned I vomited. It was bitter and disgusting, I'm glad I missed my shoes. But oddly it made me feel that much better. I wiped my mouth on the hem of my skirt and stood up. I looked back as Kakuzu had moved away from the alley I was perched in as I moved over to stand beside him. We must've looked like an interesting pair as Kakuzu checked a pocket watch from the folds of his cloak and muttered something about Hidan and his time wasting. I stood beside him as Kakuzu threw something at me. It was my cloak, hat and bag. Quickly I put them on as Kakuzu stared at the hotel.

I stared at the people who passed, most just kept on walking but a few glanced from the run down hotel to the bookshop across the street. All in all this part of own seemed fairly quiet as I heard a loud yawn.

'Nothing like a sacrifice to brighten the day eh whore?' he grinned at me as I glared at him but didn't rise to the barb.

'Come on. We have to get moving.' Kakuzu didn't leave room to argue as he started walking and I followed. Hidan scoffed and flipped his scythe around.

'You're like a fucking puppy. You just follow that money sucking heathen like he's a fucking god. Honestly I'm thinking of getting you a collar bitch and it'll have Pussywhore on it' he laughed as I turned to Hidan and shot him a glare that I knew had Kakuzu even double take at. I walked over to where the zealot stood and glared at him. He seemed highly amused as I traced a finger down his scythe.

'Well Hidan, as least I know how to take direction so my head doesn't end up on a pike. As for being a whore… at least I'm getting much more than YOU will ever get, even from your GOD. Besides, you remember what happened last time you touched me. I'm sure Kisame would love another reason to shave you limb from limb' I stated coyly as Hidan's eyes narrowed and he seemed to even lean back slightly from me. Hidan knew I was smart, now he knew I could also be manipulative. He also wasn't stupid in the fact that if I ran sobbing to Kisame it would be his head on his own pike and Kisame wrapping his scythe around his body like a pipe-cleaner.

'Always knew you'd fucking run to your freak as soon as someone fucking pissed you off.' He snapped back as I leant in closer. Freak. Kisame was NOT a freak. Before Hidan could yell I jumped him and had pinned his arms with my knees, sitting on his chest as I punched as much of his face as I could reach.

'KISAME. IS. NOT. A .FREAK!!!' I roared each of my words punctuated with punches. Hidan was laughing the entire time, only enraging me further as I hit him harder feeling the bones in my hands hurt on impact.

I knew we were causing a scene as I felt large hands lift me off of Hidan as I was held much like a parcel on Kakuzu's hip with one arm around my waist. Before I knew what was going on we were moving.

'That was reckless and stupid. I thought YOU of all people would have more common sense and finesse than to pick a fight with Hidan of all people' Kakuzu hissed as crimson and emerald eyes glared at me. His words stung, he was pissed but I didn't care about him. I was still pissed off still and beating Hidan had felt good. 'You are a kunoichi Kasumi.' He continued to scold me 'Act like one. Don't assume just because you are lax in your knowledge of the how to be a kunoichi that it is appropriate to be reckless and act like an idiot like Hidan.' He snipped as I knew that was a low blow. I suddenly felt deflated as all of the training with Konan rushed back at me. Wow, I felt like a failure as I let Kakuzu continue to carry me. We kept moving, I was aware of when Hidan finally caught up to us, Kakuzu didn't even notice.

My ribs were starting to get sore as I was dumped onto the ground.

'Wait here. Hidan, touch her and that scythe will be up your ass' Kakuzu commanded as I moved from the dirt path to the stairs of a rather beaten looking public swimming pool. The sun was setting as I sat there, Hidan was about ten feet down from me mumbling something to himself and playing with what looked like a rosary. He really took that religion seriously. I stared out at the beaten looking field across the path before getting bored and looking at the dirty ground.

I drew in the dirt with a stick, soon images came through. A bird, a flower, I covered them over and started again. I drew an eye, then lashes, eyebrow, nose, cheek, lips, chin. Before I knew it I was looking at a copy of Kisame.

'What are you drawing bitch?' Hidan's voice asked as I quickly scuffed the image over.

'Nothing. Nothing at all Hidan' I said as I heard a few mumbled curses and I pop from what I assumed was his shoulders. I don't understand Hidan, probably never would as I glanced over at the Zealot. He was stretched out on the steps staring off into space with his cloak open as usual. I distantly wondered why someone like him would join the Akatsuki other than just to kill people. Well that was probably the answer but I was curious anyway.

'Hey Hidan' I called as he looked over at me. Face still bored.

'What bitch?' he sighed as I swallowed the sharp comment I had to his wonderful name for me.

'Why did you join Akatsuki?' I asked as he looked at me like I had four heads, then his eyes narrowed and he pointedly looked away.

'You should fucking keep your nose out of my god damn business bitch' he snapped as I rolled my eyes. Well I tried; I guess Hidan just didn't like people. I scratched a few more designs into the dirt. What was taking Kakuzu so long?!

The silence stretched as I heard a sigh and Hidan stood putting his scythe on his back. I looked to my right as I distantly saw two figures on the road. Who would be walking out here at this time of night? Slowly they came closer as I recognised ninja uniform. Undoubtedly they were a Grass patrol checking up on activity in the area. I watched them come closer as Hidan stepped closer to me.

'Looks like we have some company eh bitch?' he commented, I just watched the two Grass ninja come closer. Hidan cracked his knuckles, an expectant smirk slid onto his face as he took a step closer. 'Oi! Where do you fuckers think you're going?!' he shouted as I rolled my eyes. Seriously, he was going to pick a fight with them. What an IDIOT.

The Grass ninja looked up at Hidan's insult and glared at him.

'This area is off limits to travellers! Please, remove yourself now!' it was a warning as I knew Hidan just thought of it as a challenge. He was thick like that. I simply watched from my position on the steps, better to try to stop this fight now before Hidan actually killed one of them.

'Hidan, don't bother to pick a fight with these guys. They don't know who we are and they're not exactly a threat dumbass' I snapped just loud enough for him to hear. Hidan threw a glare over his shoulder at me.

'hey, hey, Bitch! Watch who you're talking to! I happen to need a good sacrifice so keep your prissy little nose out of it!' he sneered and I'm pretty sure everyone within a 50 mile radius heard him. What a tool. Honestly, I try to be nice to the guy and he throws it in my face sheesh.

'Fine, your funeral' I muttered cleaning my nails and looking back to where the grass ninja were preparing for a fight.

'shut your face' Hidan snapped as he swung his scythe wildly a grin crossing his face as he slid easily into an attack stance. The taller grass ninja seemed wary of Hidan and I as the shorter one looked ready to take us both on.

'heh….. Are you really sure you want to fight us albino?' he goaded as Hidan took the bait and grinned licking his lips.

'Bring it on fuckers!' he crowed as he slung his scythe out toward them letting the chain slide easily through his hands. The grass ninja's threw themselves into the dirt as Hidan cackled and gave a sharp jerk on the scythe's chain as it came back toward him slicing the smaller grass ninja's arm. 'Too easy!' Hidan was grinning from ear to ear now as I felt bad for the grass chunin. They obviously had never dealt with someone of this power or level of battle expertise.

The smaller grass ninja got to his feet cursing as he ran at Hidan with a kunai in his hand. Hidan didn't seemed phased as he licked the droplets of blood off of the blades of his scythe.

'hm, one down' Hidan smirked as the grass ninja tried to slice him with a shuriken. Hidan jumped back but let the ninja tools hit him while a masochistic grin slid onto his face.

'Kutetso! He's an Akatsuki RUN!' I looked back to the other grass ninja who looked terrified now that he had figured out who we were. The attacking grass ninja seemed to freeze as he realized his mistake.

Hidan chuckled and stood to his full height, towering over the smaller grass ninja as he grinned.

'awww, you could do better than that couldn't you?' he teased as the grass ninja stared up at him wide eyed.

'what?' he breathed. Hidan seemed rather bored as he leant on his scythe.

'Whatever…. Sucks to be you though, seriously' he smirked as the smaller grass ninja pulled out a katana. Hidan's grin widened as he stood and spread open his arms in an invite.

'come get me fucker!' he laughed as suddenly I heard a shout.

'Sawblade grass no jutsu!' I looked over to see the far grass ninja forming seals as hundreds of leaves seemed to form a cloud around Hidan. I assumed the leaves were cutting him as all I could hear was Hidan's cries of ecstasy before the jutsu faded.

Hidan was crouched on one knee and bleeding pretty severely from hundreds of lacerations covering his body. I winced, that was extreme pain that Hidan would be in as Hidan started to draw the all too familiar jashinist symbol. I had to save at least one of them, I didn't enjoy unnecessary killing. Hidan had one to sacrifice the least I could do was get the other one away.

Wow… I really was changing as a person if I was actually concerned about the well being of strangers. I shook my head and looked over to where to two grass ninja were.

'you guys should run if you want to live!' I yelled as they looked over to where I was sitting. Hidan's skin had already shifted colours as the taller grass ninja looked between Hidan and I.

'Come on Kutetso let's get out of here!' he yelled as Hidan glared at me, furious.

'Oi cunt don't fuckin' warn them! It's too fuckin' late!' he roared as the grass ninja glared at his comrade.

'No I'm gonna fucking kill this guy!' he roared and charged Hidan with his katana out. Hidan stood up more expecting the blow as the grass ninja sunk his Katana clean through Hidan's chest. Both of them seemed to freeze as blood started pouring out of the grass ninja's mouth. He couched and seemed to look at Hidan.

'what the hell?' he coughed as Hidan grinned.

'you we warned three times, dumbass' he sneered as the grass ninja fell to the ground dead.

'KUTETSO!' the other ninja yelled as I heard a muffled 'shit' from him as I noticed Hidan was getting up. Katana still jutting from his chest.

'RUN KID!' I yelled as he looked at me.

'Whatsa matter? Did I kill your boyfriend?' Hidan baited as I stared at the kid and mouthed the word RUN. Hidan didn't give the kid a chance as he once again slung his scythe out toward him. I watched as at the last minute the ninja disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

'AW GOD DAMMIT!' Hidan yelled as he turned to glare from me pulling the Katana from his chest and tossing it onto the ground. 'GOD DAMMIT BITCH, YOU FUCKING WARNED HIM, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!' he roared as I sat and simply looked at him. Hidan was frightening, but nothing I couldn't handle. What was the worst he could do? Kill me?

'Shut up asshole' I glared back at him 'You have one to sacrifice and scared the shit out of the other one' it seemed fair in my mind. It only seemed to make him that much more pissed off.

'I don't CARE. IT'S A FUCKING SIN NOT TO FINISH OUT A FIGHT, BITCH! As long as ONE of them LIVES, it's a FUCKING TRANSGRESSION!' he was panting and seemed to be bleeding even more freely now as I shrugged.

'I don't really care Hidan. I'm a MEDIC I preserve lives not take them you giant twat.' He was seething as I watched his grip tighten on his scythe and jaw tighten. 'besides I'm not a jashinist so I don't really give a damn.' Hidan walked closer to me as I stood.

'He wasn't one of you fucking PATIENTS SKANK! THAT was MY kill.' He roared now nose to nose with me. I kept my ground.

'I DON'T care. You got ONE, better than NONE' I hissed as I saw Hidan move his scythe out of the corner of my right eye.

'Hidan, Kasumi. Enough' Kakuzu's deep baritone was like steel as we both didn't stop glaring each other down.

'Shut up bastard, keep your nose out of it!' Hidan snapped as Kakuzu's hand shoved us apart. I turned to look up at the miser as he turned to Hidan.

'You're an idiot. If you pass out from blood loss don't expect me to carry you back. Moron' he said as I glared at Hidan.

'I ain't gonna fucking pass out. Asshole' he scoffed as Kakuzu seemed to smirk.

'we'll see' he said turning away and starting back along the path away from the checkpoint. I followed as Hidan scrambled to catch up and pointedly walked ahead of me beside Kakuzu. Ass. I didn't let it show that he was being a jerk as I continued walking, I was just waiting for Hidan to start whining. Sure enough after 10 minutes he started.

'Oi, how far are we going?' he asked as I wondered if he'd actually respond if I said anything.

'We're going to wind country' I said as Hidan didn't acknowledge that I said anything. My eye twitched as the silence spread, Hidan was still looking expectantly at Kakuzu before he elbowed him.

'Wind country Hidan' Kakuzu mumbled as I looked up into the rapidly darkening skies. Looked like a storm was looming over our heads.

'Aw come on! That so fucking FAR! I just got all bloody and dirty and shit can we at least stop for the night at a fucking hotel or something?' he whined as I felt a few drops hit my head.

'I don't see anything wrong with camping outside' Kakuzu stated as I pointed to the sky.

'We might have a problem shortly about being outside' I said as Hidan turned and glared at me.

'Aww… fuck Kakuzu. It's going to storm can we get some kind of fucking shelter?!' Hidan snapped as the wind picked up fiercely almost pulling my hat off of my head as lightning flashed across the sky.

'lets move!' Kakuzu yelled over the wind as torrents of rain were unleashed from the sky. I was soaked in seconds. It wasn't long before a small tavern like place came into view the sign and lamps shaking with the force of the wind. Kakuzu was the first one into the building with Hidan and I following.

I shook the water off my cloak and hat as best I could, not that it helped much. Looking up I noticed a bunch of people staring at us wide eyed while Kakuzu was inquiring about a room for the three of us.

'Fucking water messed up my god-damned hair.' Hidan cursed as I took off my hat and tried to tame the sodden mess my hair had become from the rain and high winds. I stepped over to Kakuzu as he took a key from the clerk and started up a set of stairs. I followed leaving Hidan still cursing in the lobby sopping wet.

The tavern was decent compaired to most of the motels I'd been in with Kakuzu and Hidan. The miser unlocked one of the rooms as the shutters banged against the windows loudly. Quickly I shut and locked them, drenching myself further as Hidan came into the room.

'There's a bar downstairs. Yo, bastard you want a drink?' he called as Kakuzu was in the process of stripping off his wet gear. I followed suit as I noticed the dress Kakuzu had managed to get me was now ruined. I felt bad about it as I grabbed my backpack and headed into the bathroom.

I changed into the usual issued attire and stepped out to a vacant hotel room. My guess was they had gone downstairs for a drink. I could hear the storm battering the motel and other people as they moved about in their rooms around me. Sitting on the edge of the couch I noticed heavy footsteps coming up the hall. Probably Kakuzu returning from the bar after Hidan had said something stupid as I heard a knock on my door. That was odd. I sat there staring at the off white paint on my side of the door as the knock came again.

Now, there were two things I could do. Open the door and see who it was or be a smart girl and ignore the door and wait until Kakuzu or Hidan returned with the key. The knock came again as I heard a sigh and a click from the lock before the door swung open. Immediately I grabbed the closest weapon, which happened to be Hidan's scythe as I kept it raised defensively in front of me.

I blinked as I noticed who was standing in the doorway. A very sodden looking Kisame and equally sodden Itachi stood there staring at me as Itachi kicked the door closed behind them.

Kisame grinned and crossed the room quickly before wrapping me in a massive, soaking wet hug. I dropped Hidan's scythe as Itachi watched us from the far corner of the room.

'You finished your mission early?' I asked as he nodded and kissed my forehead. I really had missed Kisame. Even though he was currently soaking the only dry clothing I had.

'The mission was simple enough. Took care of it in no time' he grinned as I smiled. I was glad it had been easy, meant that he hadn't been in too great a danger while he had been away.

'That's good. Uh…. Can you let me go? I'm getting drenched' I laughed as he stepped back and my once white waist band was now a light rust colour from the blood that was interwoven into the fabric of his cloak. Itachi moved and took my spot on the couch, shoving all of my gear onto the floor and spreading out his wet gear to dry. I glared at the back of his head before getting my still damp clothing and hanging it on the foot of Kakuzu's bed post.

Kisame of course didn't say anything as he stripped off his wet clothing and hung it from the back of the bathroom door. Even then his cloak touched the floor as a pool of rusty coloured water collected in puddles on the floor.

'I'm getting a shower' Itachi announced as Kisame nodded and the Uchiha vanished into the bathroom. I really didn't like Itachi, but then again the guy had never even tried to be friendly to me. I sat on the couch as Kisame joined me pulling me into his lap so I could use his chest as a backrest.

'I take it you missed me?' I teased as he laughed and ran a hand through my damp hair.

'You have no idea. Itachi is a person of few words and it makes travelling rather tedious at times. Especially long missions' I nodded. His voice rumbling through my back and seeming to stay in my chest as I relaxed back on him.

Suddenly I felt all of the sleepless nights of the past week catch up to me as my eyelids no longer wanted to stay open as I fully relaxed against Kisame and fell into the first deep sleep I had had in too long.


	22. Wind Country

I hated wind country. That was it no more! I took a swig form my nearly empty canteen and held up arm up to shield my eyes from the dirt and grit the hot dry arid winds kicked up. The heat was sweltering and as far as I could see was the expense of a tan ocean of sand. Far in the distance rose jagged purple rocks, looking nothing more than a rough line on the far horizon. That's where we were headed. I was glad that we had left the Zombie duo back at the beginning of this inhospitable environment but now I was more worried about Kisame dehydrating himself.

I glanced to my right, he was still walking beside me sweating like i've never seen and taking another drink from his canteen.

'I HATE deserts.' He mumbled and wiped the sweat off of his face with his sleeve. I didn't blame him. I was dying and had stripped to just a tanktop and shorts under my cloak. I assumed he was still wearing all of his layers.

'well first off take off your headgear, and your shirt under the cloak. Maybe your pants too unless you want to die from heat stroke' I said wiping the sweat off of my own face. Curse this place, and Leader. Kisame laughed and glanced at me.

'The shirt can come off but the headgear stays on' he compromised as I poked his side. He raised an eyebrow as I jumped at him. He laughed while I made a rather pathetic attempt to grab his headgear before his two large hands had me pulled into an uncomfortably warm and humid hug against him.

'Urg, let me go, this is so uncomfortable' I teased as I felt him kiss my forehead gently and let me go. The wind picked up again as I hid behind Kisame to prevent myself from getting sandblasted while he continued walking. Thankfully by late afternoon we had reached an oasis and I doubt I've ever seen Kisame drink so much. I think the entire level of the pond dropped by about two inches. I lay back in the shade of some date palms, The desert was nice in the shade but even then the heat was sweltering. I slid my cloak off and lathered on sunscreen, no sense in getting burned.

'Kisame, come here' I asked as he pulled himself away from drinking the entire pond and sat beside me. FUnny thing was that he was already getting sunburnt and his face had a slight purple tinge to it. I couldn't help it, I laughed. That earned me a dark look as i smiled an put a glob on sunscreen on his nose. He blinked and looked at me before rubbing it in over his face. The break was nice as I felt one of his arms sneak out and rest on my shoulders pulling me against him. His cloak was itchy against my already hot skin as i plucked at the front of it. 'Take the cloak off you have to be dying sitting in it' I commented as he chuckled and pulled off the heavy garment and put his arm back around me. It was nice sitting in the shade with him, of course we both smelled like dirt and sweat from our trek that morning. I looked up at the sun filtering lazily through the palm's fronds and guessed it was close to noon, in other words MUCH too hot to be wandering the deserts of Wind country for at least another two hours. I lay against Kisame and closed my eyes. A nap sounded wonderful right now as I felt him shift and pull me into his lap letting me use his chest as a backrest while he leant against the palm tree.

I felt his hand running through my hair as he pulled the tie out of it and combed out the loose braid I had thrown it into.

'Did Hidan and Kakuzu give you much trouble?' i less heard his words than felt them through the rumble in his chest.

'No, Hidan's a fucktard but other than that I just stayed out of Kakuzu's way and we get long great.' I muttered as he laughed and kissed my hair.

'Seems like you have a few enemies in Akatsuki' he mumbled as I nodded. Depressing fact was that I believed there wasn't anywhere I could go that I wouldn't have enemies following me around.

'Where are we heading to anyway? I'm pretty sure Suna isn't in those mountains' I turned and looked up at him. He had his eyes closed as one luminous golden eyes cracked open and looked down at me.

'It's Sasori's old base. It's the old citadel before Suna relocated. It's been centuries since its been used and it's long been forgotten where its exact location is. From there theres an underground path that leads to Suna. Consider it a back way in. ' he grinned and closed his eye relaxing against the tree. A back way into Suna. That was convenient as i let myself drift to sleep in the midday heat.

It wasn't long before I was being woken up. A soft but familiar pair of lips were on mine as I blinked lazily and kissed Kisame back. Not a bad way to be woken up I had to admit as he pulled back.

'You were snoring.' he said a huge grin on his face as I raised an eyebrow.

'And you don't?' I parried as he kissed me softly again. His hand on the side of my face as he pulled back with a smile.

'Touche' he stated as I laughed and stretched. It was slightly cooler than when we had stopped as I stood and put my cloak back on. I already felt uncomfortably warm as Kisame was already ready to go. Taking my hand we headed back into the desert.

'At this pace we'll be lucky to get there by next month' Kisame grumbled as the mountains still seemed eons away but they were getting larger. The sun was setting and it was actually getting frighteningly cold.

'Want to run and see how far we get?' i suggested as he gave a nod and we took off running toward the setting sun and the still hazy purple mountains. We ran late into the evening, only stopping once when i lost my footing and ended up rolling down a sand dune much to kisame's panic and my own irritation. WE stopped only once to drink and use the bathroom before we were running once again. The mountains were growing quite large as the sun was starting to rise along with the temperature.

'How do people here stand these extremes?' Kisame grumbled as the sun rose high over head. I shook my head.

'I havent a clue but look!' i pointed to the massive towers of rock that were the beginnings of the purple mountain range we had seen. It was a relief as we both collapsed into the shade of one of the behemoth slabs of stone. Kisame had managed to drain two canteens in under a minute as I took a swig from mine.

'It's not much further thankfully' he sighed and leaned back against the rock pulling me over to half lie on his lap as I turned and looked up at him. I offered him my canteen as he took it and finished half of it in one swig.

'Seriously, you and I need to have a drinking night.' I teased as he laughed and his lips caught mine in a soft kiss. I pulled back and looked up at him 'and you think I'm kidding, Don't you?'

'I doubt you could keep up to me Kasumi' he smirked ' not many people can' he took another drink from my canteen.

'Hm you didn't know my hobby in the military' I grinned wolfishly as he simply raised an eyebrow and took another drink. The sun was turning the rock around us into heaters as I climbed off of Kisame. It was going to get unbearably warm soon if we didn't find whatever base he had been talking about. Kisame hauled himself up with a grunt and Samehada clacked restlessly, I had to feel bad for the sentient sword. The desert must be a horrible place with all of the sand to get trapped between it's scales/teeth/ blades. I really still didn't know what they were exactly. Kisame led me deeper into the crazy maze of jagged purple stone that soared straight up above us to unimaginable heights. It was much cooler in the shade of the stones as we came to a wall of solid, flawless rock. I craned my neck upward to try to see the top but it was obscured by the already glaring sun. Turning back to Kisame as watched his hands fly through seals before he touched his hand to the flat stone.

The silence that followed was a little unnerving. It felt like the entire area was holding its breath before I heard a loud grinding noise. In an instant I felt the ground fall out from under me as I jumped and swung my arm out trying to grab for the rock. My hands met its smooth, flawless surface as I plummeted. There was nothing to grab onto as I came up short smashing into the ground and knocking the wind out of myself. I gasped as I heard the swish of Kisame's cloak as he landed beside me.

'Kasumi? Are you alright?' Concerned golden eyes peered at me through the gloom as I nodded and coughed finally reviving my lungs enough to breathe. The grinding noise shifted again as the hole of light above us sealed and the darkness seemed to press in. I didn't like it much as I heard Kisame shuffling around in the dark, there was a flick and a torch was lit. I looked around the small cavern and stood. It was a carved out entryway with four halls leading off from it. Kisame took the hallway to the farthest left as i followed him keeping close. I knew Sasori worked with poisons and enjoyed scorpions. I didn't wish to find any of his humour lurking in the caverns as the hallway slowly widened until we were standing in a rather nice looking kitchen. Kisame flicked on the lights as I looked at what seemed like the interior of the last stone base we had been in. Honestly, the Akatsuki were really unoriginal in creating their bases as Kisame pulled off his cloak and rolled his shoulders. I did what any respectable young woman would, i stared and appreciated his physique.

'we'll stay here tonight and move into Suna tomorrow' he stated looking through the cupboards. I tilted my head slightly not really listening as he shuffled around the kitchen banging cupboards. I held onto the countertop wanting to reach out and prove to myself that Kisame's muscles were as hard as I assumed they were. NO, BAD THOUGHTS. I looked away quickly staring at the carved stone wall, still sneaking peeks with my perhiperal vision. Sometimes I just wished that my body would listen to my mind as I found myself wandering over to him and hugging him from behind. His skin was cool to the touch as I pressed my cheek against his back as his low rumbling laugh made me smile. A much larger hand rested gently against mine as I hugged him tightly. I always felt so small against his sheer size as the cupboard door banged closed and I felt him turn in my grasp.

Not like I could hold him in one place even if I damn well wanted to.

I felt his hands on my hips as he smiled down at me. Lesser women would've screamed and ran at the pointed teeth as I simply smiled back. The next thing I knew I was sitting on the counter staring eye to eye with him.

'I think this height might be a little easier' he teased as I grinned and pulled off his forehead protector. He raised an eyebrow as I just smiled and pulled him down to kiss me. Despite his cool skin his lips were warm as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He leaned against me, pushing be back slightly while his hands rested on either side of my hips supporting himself. All too soon he pulled back and rested his hand on my thighs smiling at me. I grinned back, kissing his lips again as he chuckled and ran a hand through my grit encrusted hair.

'I guess we need showers' I mumbled making a face as I realized just how grimy I was from the blowing sand and our mad dash across the desert.

'I would say thats an excellent plan.' he agreed as I slid off of the counter standing flush against him. Looking up I saw him smirk and something caress my ass before he stepped back and headed toward what I assumed was the shower. I blinked, did Kisame just grope me? I stood dumbfounded for a minute before I heard the shower running. Oh no, he was not getting off that easy! I followed finding the bathroom door amazingly unlocked as I ducked in. Steam was rolling lazily through the room as I listened to him moving about in the shower, water plinking off of the bottom of the tub. He knew I was in the room, I didn't bother to hide my chakra at all but I was in for some payback. Quickly, I stripped off my clothes and jumped in the shower arms going around Kisame's waist. Although… they didn't make it there. Two strong hands wrapped around my upper arms pulling me back against a very flat and toned chest.

'I knew you wanted a shower but I think you're being slightly impatient Kasumi' he chuckled, he was standing in front of me as the clone held me against himself. Damn clones, I kept forgetting about his love of using the damn technique. I shifted my weight leaning back against the clone and looking up at him. We could play a game, I did enjoy them from time to time. Plus there was a wet, naked, extremely toned man in front and behind me. Why did this sound like it was going into a bad romance novel?

'Well you know me ,never could wait' I teased as the clone's hand slipped down to hold me around my waist. I still wasn't overly comfortable standing completely naked but I could feel from the clone that he was enjoying it immensely.

'hm, Either way it seems that you can't keep your hands off of me' He teased standing in front of me, water bouncing off of his back and shoulders, trailing over his chest. This was a good decision.

'Mmm I guess not, it's kinda kinky being held by you and seeing you naked at the same time though' I leaned back against the clone slightly, if he wanted a show then he'd get a show. He shifted taking a step toward me, his hand trailing up my arm to the side of my neck.

'Its it though?' he grinned and leaned in to kiss me. It was a sweet kiss, but dominant. The clone moved behind me, pulling my hair aside and kissing my neck before nipping along my jugular. My legs wavered but I didn't have to concentrate too much with the clone's arms wrapped firmly around me and holding me against him.

[you all haaaaaaaate me 8D]

"Figures" he panted, still pressing me against the shower wall. "Go to take a shower and end up dirty again" he grinned. I laughed and rubbed my foot along the back of his leg, arms still wrapped snugly around his neck.

"But it's the best kind of dirty" I grinned. Kisame laughed and kissed me again. It was a wonderful feeling being around Kisame and with him in so many ways. He set me back on my own two feet and tossed a washcloth at me. I caught it on sheer reflex, raising an eyebrow as if asking him what exactly he wanted me to do with it.

"It's not going to bite you and the hot water's going to run out" He laughed and rubbed shampoo through his hair. I rolled my eyes and tossed the cloth at him, it hit his shoulders with a satisfying smack. I grinned and snatched the bottom of shampoo rubbing a generous amount through my hair. I had a lot of hair so sue me this took awhile. Kisame watched me rather amused before I felt his hands bat mine away. I opened my mouth to protest but was shut up when his hands rubbed the shampoo through my hair. It took much less time with his larger hands but it was enjoyable. I relaxed back against him, earning a chuckle and a quick kiss on my cheek.

It was odd, I wasn't used to having such open displays of affection shown to me. Kissing, cuddling, stuff like that were foreign to me. He rinsed the soap from my hair before turning off the water and getting out, tossing a towel at me. I caught it with my face.

"Good catch" he snickered as I glared and dried myself off.

"Better than your throw, are you a ninja or an amoeba?" I tossed back as he quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything stepping out of the bathroom. I followed only to be pinned against the wall and kissed roughly. I blinked but gave in before he pulled back and kissed my cheek.

"I doubt an amoeba could do that" he chuckled and let me go. It took me a moment to remember exactly how to stand before I righted myself and strode off toward the bedrooms. I could hear his heavy footsteps following me. It was comforting in the dark base to at least know someone was around as I fumbled in the dark for a light switch.

I heard his rumbling laugh before he simply picked me up and set me on the bed. I assumed it was rather large because I couldn't even feel the bed dip if he lay down on in. It took me a minute but I found the covers and pulled them back, wrapping myself in them. The cavern was actually quite cold compaired to the brutal heat of the desert above.

"You should sleep. We'll be doing a fair amount of tracking tomorrow" he said, a heavy arm wrapping itself around my waist and dragging me back against him.

"Yep, sleep, right" I grinned as he shifted around and it only took a minute but his breathing turned deeper and even. He really was tired from going across the desert. I didn't realize how much it'd taken out of him. I rolled over and lay my head against his arm. Affection was bizarre but I liked it in some odd way.


End file.
